Do you have long Covid? Scientists propose that this nerve may be behind it

Scientists have been baffled by Long Covid, a term used to describe illnesses ranging from neurological to digestive, heart, and lung issues.

A new study suggests that some long-term symptoms of Covid may be caused by the virus damaging a vital nerve.

Long Covid is an informally used term that refers to symptoms that continue beyond four weeks following infection with the Covid virus, according to the ONS.

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The National Health Service recommends a number of treatments to help ease the symptoms of this condition, but as of yet there is no cure.

Scientists think that inflammation of the vagus nerve might be a contributing factor to some of the unrelated symptoms that can plague survivors months after their illness has ended.

The Vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body. It connects vital organs such as the brain, heart, lungs, and intestines, as well as the muscles used to swallow. It has been referred to as the 'motorway' of the nervous system.

In Spain, scientists tested 350 long Covid patients and quizzed them on their symptoms to see whether the nerve factors into their health problems.

Based on their preliminary analysis of 20 patients, they found that symptoms such as gastrointestinal issues and elevated heart rates were associated with vagus nerve damage.

According to the researchers, structural changes to the vagus nerve are the 'central' feature of long-term Covid. Their findings have not been published or peer-reviewed.

Long-term Covid has also been shown to cause damage to the blood vessels. There are around 1.3million Britons with long Covid-like symptoms that last for at least four weeks after infection, according to official estimates.

Since it is hard to define the condition and figures are based on self-reported symptoms, it is difficult to know how many people are affected.

The most common ongoing symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, and loss of smell or taste.

Doctors at University Hospital Germans in Badalona recruited 348 patients to study the vagus nerve - about 3mm in diameter - in long Covid.

The majority of the group showed symptoms similar to those of those who had damaged the nerve, which is usually caused by surgery, physical injury, or tumour.

Further tests of 22 patients revealed that roughly a quarter of them had thickened or inflamed vagus nerves.

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Diarrhoea, an elevated heart rate, dizziness and dizziness were common symptoms related to vagus nerve dysfunction.

The results of the study, led by Dr Gemma Lladós and Dr Lourdes Mateu, suggest that most patients with symptoms of vagus nerve damage had changes in the structure or function of the nerve.According to the authors, their findings so far suggest vagus nerve dysfunction as a central cause of long Covid.

The researchers presented their findings at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.