New evidence shows that patients with Long Covid continue to have higher measures of blood clotting, which may help explain their persistent symptoms, such as reduced physical fitness and fatigue.
The study was led by researchers from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences and is published in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
Previous work by the same group studied the dangerous clotting observed in patients with severe acute Covid-19.
However, far less is known about Long Covid, where symptoms can last weeks to months after the initial infection has resolved and is estimated to affect millions of people worldwide.
The researchers examined 50 patients with symptoms of Long Covid to better understand if abnormal blood clotting is involved.
"Because clotting markers were elevated while inflammation markers had returned to normal, our results suggest that the clotting system may be involved in the root cause of Long Covid syndrome," said Dr Helen Fogarty, the study's lead author.
Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, Dr Fogarty said: "Long Covid is a new condition and very little was known about it to date and really it's a collection of symptoms in patients who have recently had Covid-19 and it's quite a heterogenous bunch of symptoms.
"It includes things like reduced physical fitness, shortness of breath, fatigue and these symptoms can last weeks and many months after their acute illness of Covid-19.
"While doctors have made significant gains in the acute Covid-19 illness, much less is known about Long Covid Syndrome, which is now estimated to affect millions of people worldwide."
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