With the increase of Post Covid 19 outbreak, patients worldwide have suffered the symptoms of the illness even after recovery and clinically testing negative for the disease. As the virus develops newer variants, it is becoming a challenge for the healthcare fraternity to determine the accuracy of the post covid symptoms and how to proceed to treat it. One of the most recurrent symptoms of the Post Covid 19 syndrome has been the development of lung fibrosis, also known as pulmonary fibrosis.
Pulmonary fibrosis is a condition in which the lungs are susceptible to complete damage over a period. The symptoms of this disease include shortness of breath, dry cough, exhaustion, weight loss. As the disease prolongs, it includes complications like pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failure, organ failure, thickening of the arteries and veins, heart failure, heart attacks and lung cancer. Currently, there exists no complete treatment to cure pulmonary lung fibrosis.
Covid 19, which is a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS - Cov 2) continues to soar worldwide where patients have suffered mild to severe symptoms. In some cases, the virus is also hard to detect due to its asymptomatic nature.
Even though the recovery rate has been high in presence of medical treatment, the Post Covid long hauler is more challenging for the medical fraternity.
Some patients may recover from the infection in 15-30 days while for others the symptoms may continue to last longer than 3 months. The Post Covid 19 syndrome is also hard to determine based on only on the severity of the Coronavirus infection. In many cases, patients who have battled only a mild infection continue to suffer a more severe form of Post Covid acute syndrome.
According to research, various mechanisms of lung damage in covid 19 have been described as both viral and immune mediated. Pulmonary fibrosis or lung fibrosis can be after either chronic inflammation or are genetically influenced age-related process. In detail, the lung fibrosis leads to the thickening or scarring of lung tissues, where the lung sacs get thick, stiff, and scarred. This architectural damage of the lung restricts oxygen flow into the blood stream. The fibrosis also limits the expansion of the lungs in due time making it difficult for the patient to breathe.
As of now, the success rate to treat lung fibrosis has been limited in the sphere of medical evolution. Researchers, doctors and scientists continue to explore drugs and their potential to cure the disease.
Current treatments available therefore take a preventive measure to relieve symptoms of shortness of breath, respiratory exhaustion, and fatigue etc.
Patients suffering from even mild symptoms are therefore recommended to seek medical help at the very beginning of any display of these symptoms to stay active and healthy.