Look for These Symptoms in the Months After COVID-19 Recovery

• The findings of a new study suggest that even people with mild COVID-19 may develop long-term health complications that go well beyond the lungs.
• Experts say there are clear signs of kidney and heart disease that people should be aware of.
• Getting vaccinated is the best way to avoid developing COVID-19 and the potential for long-term side effects.

As more people are vaccinated, many of us are increasingly looking toward a future at the end of the pandemic.

But for some people, the long-term complications of the virus will last after the pandemic ends.

Now over a year from the start of the pandemic, the scientific community is learning more about the long-term complications and effects of COVID-19.

In a recent study published in the journal Nature, researchers found that individuals with more severe disease at the start of their illness have a greater risk of long-term complications such as heart and kidney disease secondary to COVID-19.

Through analysis of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs database, Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, an assistant professor in the school of medicine at Washington University in Saint Louis, examined the health outcomes of individuals 6 months after having COVID-19.

They found that those who had the virus had a higher risk of several conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, and kidney complications.

Globally there have been more than 149 million cases of COVID-19, and research suggests that approximately 10 percent — or 14.9 million people —will be considered “long-haulers,” those who experience symptoms more than 4 weeks after the onset of COVID-19.