For a long time it was believed that coronavirus has a detrimental effect only on the lungs. But it turned out that he was much more insidious. Doctors find traces of coronavirus infection in many organs and tissues – in the heart, blood vessels, brain, and gastrointestinal tract.
Although hundreds of new works about COVID-19 appear daily, experts still do not have a complete understanding of the mechanism of the new virus’s effect on the body. It is only clear that the consequences of the disease for the patient can be disastrous.
Heart, blood vessels, kidneys … next in the list
Today, COVID-19 is considered a systemic disease that can affect all organs.
In addition to the respiratory tract, the virus causes systemic vascular inflammation. Autopsy of deceased patients showed that the virus infects the inner layer of blood vessels and impairs their function in all organs. This explains why patients with vascular diseases (with arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and smokers) carry the disease an order of magnitude harder.
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In third place in the strength of coronavirus damage after the lungs and blood vessels is the heart. According to preliminary data, 20% of patients hospitalized with coronavirus (that is, those with severe illness) had signs of myocardial damage, and arrhythmia was detected in 44%. It has been proven that with COVID-19, blood coagulation is impaired, resulting in blood clots that not only aggravate the course of the disease, but also increase the risk of death (from heart attacks and strokes).
Coronavirus infection also seriously affects the kidneys. Even Chinese doctors noticed that blood and protein are often present in the urine of patients with coronavirus infections (this indicates a serious disorder in the urinary system), and in hospitalized patients, kidney failure is fixed (in patients with this diagnosis, the risk of death is 5 times higher. than in patients with intact kidneys).
One of the most striking symptoms of a disease caused by coronavirus is the loss of smell, which 90% of patients report on day 3-4 of the disease (the moment of the most active virus reproduction). Sometimes the loss of smell is the only sign of the disease with an asymptomatic course of the disease. This seemingly innocent symptom indicates damage to the central nervous system.
Studies in France and China have shown that up to 30% of infected people experience neurological symptoms to one degree or another. Cases of encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and Guillain-Barré syndrome have been reported as side effects of COVID-19, in which the immune system attacks the nerve cells of the body, which leads to muscle weakness, and in some cases, to paralysis. In patients who have had a severe illness, these symptoms often remain after recovery.
Flatness on the stomach
Coronavirus seriously affects the gastrointestinal tract.
“It is known that in some patients, coronavirus infection begins with symptoms characteristic of intestinal disorders – nausea, vomiting, which diarrhea later joins,” explains President of the Scientific Society of Gastroenterologists, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Leonid Lazebnik. – This is due to the fact that the receptors with which the virus is introduced into the body are present not only in the lungs, but also in the tissues of the gastrointestinal tract, which means people with atrophic gastritis infected with Helicobacter pylori (an infection that causes ulcers and stomach cancer ) have a potentially higher risk of infection. According to foreign colleagues, patients with severe COVID-19 often have liver dysfunction.
In addition, there is evidence that the virus is also found in the feces of 50% of infected within a month after recovery. This suggests that there is another, previously unaccounted for transmission of the infection – oral-fecal (as in most intestinal infections, in particular hepatitis A).
In addition, the virus can also enter the body through food (in the event that it has not undergone sufficient heat treatment). ”
According to Chinese scientists, lesions of the gastrointestinal tract are an extremely unfavorable prognostic sign with COVID-19. Acute disturbances in the functioning of the stomach and intestines were observed in 86% of patients who were in critical condition, and the severity of digestive disorders is directly related to the probability of death of the patient.
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