A new study finds people infected with COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a disorder that causes extreme exhaustion, memory and thinking problems.
COVID-19 appears to increase a person’s risk of developing chronic fatigue syndrome.
A new study finds people who catch COVID are five times more likely to develop the disorder, which is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis.
Researchers say these findings may help explain why new cases of ME/CFS are 15 times higher than now they were before the pandemic.
Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue include extreme exhaustion after physical or mental activity, brain fog, sleep problems muscle pain and dizziness.
The researchers followed nearly 12,000 people with a history of COVID and more than 1,400 who never had the coronavirus.
4.5% of the participants who had COVID developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome compared to 0.6% of those who’d never been infected.
Memory and thinking problems, feeling of malaise and dizziness were the most common ME/CFS symptoms reported by COVID patients.
The authors say additional research is needed to determine why some COVID patients are at increased risk of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Source: Journal of General Internal Medicine
Author Affiliations: National Institutes of Health, Bateman Horne Center
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