Study: Long COVID Usually Gets Better in a Year for People With Mild COVID-19
A large-scale study found that many symptoms of long COVID typically improve within a year.
People who recovered within a year were more likely to have had a mild course of COVID-19
Doctors say this gives hope to patients.
Long COVID is a condition that has largely baffled doctors and scientists for years. Now, there’s some hope for sufferers: A new study found that people who experience long COVID after having a mild case of COVID-19 will usually get better in a year.
The study, which was published in BMJ, analyzed medical records for nearly 300,000 people who were diagnosed with a mild case of COVID-19. The patients were followed for a year and compared to nearly 300,000 people who didn’t have COVID-19.
The researchers specifically looked for 70 different health conditions that have been linked to long COVID, controlling for factors like age, sex, alcohol and tobacco use, pre-existing conditions, and different COVID-19 variants. The researchers discovered that there was a significant risk of developing common symptoms associated with long COVID in both the early (30 to 180 days after infection) and late (180 to 360 days after infection) stages. Those included:
brain fog
loss of smell and taste
breathing issues
dizziness and weakness
heart palpitations
strep throat
Other symptoms like chest pain and respiratory issues, cough, hair loss, and muscle and joint pain jumped up in the early phase.
Overall, though, trouble breathing was the most common issue people experienced after having COVID-19.
The researchers found that, while most symptoms got better within a year, issues with concentration and memory tended to linger. Worth noting: The study didn’t address fatigue, which is a common lingering symptom of long COVID.
Doctors say the study’s findings are promising—and mirror what they and other medical experts are seeing in patients. “The study findings are consistent with what has been seen anecdotally: that most people with persistent symptoms after COVID recover over a period of time,” says Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
“It’s what we’ve been hearing from people who run COVID clinics,” says William Schaffner, M.D., infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, noting that this is a “very good study.”
“Many people who have long COVID symptoms—if they get good support—improve substantially within a year,” Dr. Schaffner says.
What does this say about long COVID?
There are still a lot of unknowns about long COVID, including what causes it in the first place, Dr. Adalja says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) specifically says online that researchers don’t know why some people get long COVID. However, there are some risk factors. According to the CDC, people who are more likely to get long COVID include:
Those who had more severe COVID-19 illness, especially those who were hospitalized or needed intensive care
People who had underlying health conditions before having COVID-19
People who did not get a COVID-19 vaccine
People who had multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS) during or after having COVID-19
“It is unclear what is behind these persistent symptoms, and it may not even be a single disorder,” Dr. Adalja says. “There is still a lot of basic science work that is needed to understand why some people experience these symptoms, which symptoms they experience, and why some have none.”
Dr. Schaffner says that the findings that many people with long COVID after having a mild illness get better within a year reinforces—but doesn’t prove—the main theory that long COVID is caused by lingering inflammation in the body. “One would anticipate that the inflammation would recede over time and, as a consequence, people would get better,” he says.
What does this mean for people with long COVID?
Doctors say the findings can give hope to people who are struggling with long COVID. “People with persistent symptoms should seek medical attention but have some hope that, over time, the burden may decrease,” Dr. Adalja says.
Dr. Schaffner says it also gives optimism for doctors to share with their patients. “They can say, ‘Hang in there, keep doing the various activities that relate to your particular symptoms. Many will improve substantially over the period of a year,’” he says.
Dr. Schaffner acknowledges that “a year is a long time” but says it’s “something optimistic” that can help patients who otherwise have had a lot of unanswered questions.
But Thomas Russo, M.D., chief of infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in New York, notes that researchers are “still sorting things out,” specifically pointing to fatigue and some other lingering symptoms. “We do know that symptoms improve in certain individuals over time, but other people still have symptoms after a year,” he says. “I know people who haven’t regained their sense of taste and smell well after a year and a lot of people are still dealing with fatigue.”
If you suspect that you have long COVID, doctors say it’s important to see a medical professional about your symptoms (and not assume that they’ll just go away with time). “Absolutely seek care,” Dr. Schaffner says. “The information we’re getting from our own local COVID clinic is that patients can really be helped by medical attention and supportive care, depending on what their symptoms are.”
Dr. Russo says that the study “gives some hope” to people that “things will improve over time.” But, he adds, “is this a guarantee that tincture of time is going to be a solution for long COVID and everything will be better? We just don’t know yet. More studies are needed.”
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