Medical professionals have discovered connections between long COVID and certain blood circulation conditions and are urging that more research and clinical trials be made in this area.
Since early 2020, we and other researchers have pointed out that acute Covid-19 is not only a lung disease, but actually significantly affects the vascular (blood flow) and coagulation (blood clotting) systems.
A recent study in my lab revealed that there is significant microclot formation in the blood of both acute Covid-19 and long Covid patients. With healthy physiology, clots may form (for instance, when you cut yourself). However, the body breaks down the clots efficiently by a process called fibrinolysis.
In blood from patients with long Covid, persistent microclots are resistant to the body’s own fibrinolytic processes. We found high levels of various inflammatory molecules trapped in the persistent microclots, including clotting proteins like plasminogen, fibrinogen and Von Willebrand factor (VWF), and also Alpha-2 antiplasmin (a molecule that prevents the breakdown of microclots).
Read the full article at the Guardian.
