A group of scientists from Sweden has found something important in the blood of people who continue to feel sick even after recovering from Covid-19. This condition is called long Covid, and it causes problems like breathlessness, tiredness, and other health issues that last for a long time after the infection is gone.
The researchers are from Karolinska Institutet, a well-known medical university in Sweden. They studied the blood of people who had Covid during the time when vaccines were not yet available. In total, they looked at samples from 265 people in Sweden and the UK. These people were still suffering from symptoms long after they had recovered from the initial infection.
Using advanced technology, the scientists looked at thousands of proteins in the blood. They found a group of proteins that were mostly present in people with long Covid, especially those who had serious breathing problems.
These proteins are connected to inflammation and damage in the lungs, and similar protein patterns have been seen in other people who suffer from severe lung diseases.
Dr. Marcus Buggert, one of the researchers, said that these proteins are signs, or biomarkers, that can help doctors understand what is happening inside the body. These signs are related to how cells die and how lungs get damaged. This discovery can help doctors develop ways to test for long Covid and even create new treatments in the future.
Right now, there are no clear tests or special treatments for long Covid, so this research is a big step forward. The team now wants to study tissues from the lungs and stomach to see where these proteins are coming from. They hope this will show if there is still inflammation or damage in certain organs, which can help doctors give better care to people suffering from long Covid.
