OHSU Study Finds COVID Causes Metabolic and Cognitive Changes Long After Virus Clears

A COVID-19 study on rhesus monkeys conducted by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University has revealed that a seemingly short-term illness has a lasting impact on the body long after the virus has disappeared.

Although previously unexposed and unvaccinated, rhesus monkeys infected with the delta variant of the coronavirus recovered quickly, but researchers at Oregon Health & Science University found that the primates experienced chronic health issues six months later.

The findings are published in the medical journal, PLOS Pathogens, and have led scientists to conclude that long-term effects of COVID-19 could be far more common than previously believed, and take longer to manifest.

Individuals Do Not Have to Experience Severe Doses of COVID to Suffer Long-Term Chronic Illness

A lead author of the study and professor at OHSU’s National Primate Research Center, Dr. Charles Roberts, states that individuals do not have to have severe doses of COVID to potentially suffer long-term chronic illness. Tests on the rhesus monkeys showed that 90% developed chronic health issues several months after the laboratory testing was completed.

Researchers found that long-term post-COVID complications include changes in metabolic hormone levels associated with diabetes and heart disease, fatigue, brain fog, inflammation, and disrupted sleep patterns.

Establishing the number of people affected by post-COVID complications is inconclusive because studies have had to rely on inconsistent diagnostic criteria and self-reported incidents. However, the findings by OHSU researchers suggest that chronic post-COVID health issues could be far more widespread.

OHSU researchers explored the possibility that people contracting COVID-19 who suffered metabolic health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension would suffer more extensively.

Researchers divided the rhesus monkeys into two groups – one group with overweight participants, and the other lean and healthy. The overweight monkeys experienced more dramatic changes, but the leaner group suffered persistent internal disruptions.

Dr. Roberts concludes that the study has helped to expand scientific knowledge about a seemingly short-term illness having a ripple effect on the body long after the virus has disappeared.