In the battle with COVID 19, we are just discovering the results of long-term COVID or Post COVID illness.
How Long does COVID last ?
The effects of COVID 19 can last upto a year and some damages even more.
India has already given the single dose of COVID vaccine to more than half its eligible population. Getting vaccinated is your best chance against COVID 19.
Meta-analysis of 42 studies with 423,117 patients with COVID-19 after a search that included Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline/PubMed, and COVID-19 Research Database (until August 2020)revealed the important mortality risk factors associated with COVID19. Most of these are risk factors for or by themselves noncommunicable diseases.
COVID-19: The Top 10 mortality-related risk factors, according to meta-analysis, are :
- Old age
- Male gender
- Smoking
- Obesity
- Cardiovascular disease
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- COPD
- Acute kidney injury
- Increased D dimer
The problem is that even asymptomatic COVID 19 can suffer from long COVID.CKD or chronic kidney disease and end-stage kidney disease is possible even after mild infection with COVID 19.
The study published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology has health data from around 1.7 million US Veterans from March 1, 2020, to March 15, 2021.
Result :
Patients testing positive for Covid-19 without hospitalization
- 30% higher chance of acute kidney injury.
- 15% greater risk of major kidney disease like CKD.
- Greater than the two-fold higher risk of developing end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
COVID 19 infected patients who were hospitalized, needing intensive care were at a much higher risk of Kidney disease
- They are at 7-times more risk of a major adverse kidney event. (Including mortality, renal replacement therapy etc)
- At eight times higher risk of acute kidney injury.
- At 13-times more risk of end-stage kidney disease.
Long-Covid or post-acute Covid is a real risk. Kidney damage is a well-recognized part of the presenting signs and symptoms. Long COVID may persist even after one year of recovery from Covid-19.
What to do?
- Get vaccinated.
- Wear a mask
- Practice social distancing
- I prefer outdoor meetups to indoor ones.
In case you have already had COVID 19-
Remember: You will need long-term regular monitoring of kidney function to anticipate and prevent kidney damage on time.
What can you do?
- You can get a Blood urea-creatinine done for baseline record.
- Keep your Blood pressure, Blood sugar, body weight in good control.
- Kidney problem is often multifactorial. Knowing what you can do today will protect your tomorrow. Get medical opinion on time.
References
1.Mortality-related risk factors of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 42 studies and 423,117 patients
Zelalem G Dessie 1 2, Temesgen Zewotir 3
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34418980/
2.Bowe B, et al. Kidney outcomes in long COVID. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 2021; ASN.2021060734 DOI: 10.1681/ASN.2021060734 https://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/early/2021/08/25/ASN.2021060734