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An image representing red blood cells
Researchers in the United Kingdom are investigating a potential link between blood clots and long-term symptoms after Covid infection and whether treatment with blood thinners can help reduce long-term Covid conditions, media reports said.
Long-term Covid is defined as new or continuing symptoms four weeks or more after the onset of the disease. Symptoms that include fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of concentration, and joint pain can last for months or even more than a year.
Previous studies have shown that Covid infection increases the risk of blood clots. Infected people have a higher risk of related conditions, including stroke, heart attack and deep vein thrombosis, according to The Guardian.
Prof. Ami Banerjee of University College London is leading a study called Stimulate-ICP, where 4,500 people with long-term Covid will be divided into four groups, in which participants are given regular care, antihistamines, anti-inflammatory or anticoagulant medicine for three. months.
“This will allow us to say whether this improves the fatigue and other outcomes of people with long-term Covid,” Banerjee was quoted as saying.
A study by researchers at the University of Cambridge, called Heal-Covid, included people who had been hospitalized with Covid and aimed to identify treatments that could help prevent or reduce persistent symptoms, the report said.
“Heal-Covid is not a study to treat people with long-term Covid, we are working to prevent things from happening so far,” said lead researcher Professor Charlotte Summers of Cambridge.
The team recruited 1,118 participants, with one part of the study involving participants receiving blood thinners.
“The study included anticoagulants because it was thought that there was an increased number of large blood clots that appeared in the post-hospital phase of the disease, not microclots,” Summers said.
In addition, a team from the University of Leicester is also investigating the issue of clotting, the report said.
The Covid-19 post-hospitalization study looked at whether people with persistent symptoms after hospitalization had chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. If this is found, it would be strong evidence that microcoagulation is a serious problem, said lead researcher Chris Breitling, a professor of respiratory medicine at the university.
“While if we don’t see this, it doesn’t rule out the possibility, obviously – that some people will get clots – but that would make it less likely to be a substantially serious problem,” he said.
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