Your theory doesn’t explain the prevalence of highly unusual Covid-specific symptoms among the mix that makes up Long Covid (I’m thinking of strawberries smelling like burnt tyres)
There’s a plausible mechanism with Covid: Other viruses cause fatigue syndroms as well, probably autoimmune related, and it’s plausible that the SARS-Cov-2 virus has properties that trigger this comparatively often.
There’s a second plausible mechanism with Covid: It affects blood vessels and lots of organ systems at once, so lasting damage causing fatigue seems to make sense. (Note that this mechanism makes less sense for asymptomatic infection leading to Long Covid, which some anecdotal reports claim is also happening).
You fail to mention that there’s a history of ignorant / narrow-minded doctors gaslighting patients with uncommon or not well researched actual chronic illnesses.
Some people’s Long Covid symptoms are too outlierish in their severity to be anything that develops normally. E.g., people who used to be highly into sports report that they get out of breath just climbing stairs, and that this persists for a period of years. My impression is that this sort of thing never just happens without an identifiable cause. (I’m uncertain whether that type of Long Covid can happen after asymptomatic infection. That would be important to know to ascertain the use of vaccines for preventing Long Covid!)
Your theory doesn’t explain the prevalence of highly unusual Covid-specific symptoms among the mix that makes up Long Covid (I’m thinking of strawberries smelling like burnt tyres)
The persistence of anosmia doesn’t entail that other symptoms are caused by Covid. (IIRC the relevant cells in the nose take a while to regenerate). Though I agree this provides some evidence that Covid is the cause.
There’s a second plausible mechanism with Covid: It affects blood vessels and lots of organ systems at once, so lasting damage causing fatigue seems to make sense
This predicts that you’d find organ damage in these patients. Are there studies showing clear organ damage in people with mild cases 6 months later?
Some people’s Long Covid symptoms are too outlierish in their severity to be anything that develops normally. E.g., people who used to be highly into sports report that they get out of breath just climbing stairs, and that this persists for a period of years. My impression is that this sort of thing never just happens without an identifiable cause.
I disagree. This does happen without an identifiable cause.
Your theory doesn’t explain the prevalence of highly unusual Covid-specific symptoms among the mix that makes up Long Covid (I’m thinking of strawberries smelling like burnt tyres)
There’s a plausible mechanism with Covid: Other viruses cause fatigue syndroms as well, probably autoimmune related, and it’s plausible that the SARS-Cov-2 virus has properties that trigger this comparatively often.
There’s a second plausible mechanism with Covid: It affects blood vessels and lots of organ systems at once, so lasting damage causing fatigue seems to make sense. (Note that this mechanism makes less sense for asymptomatic infection leading to Long Covid, which some anecdotal reports claim is also happening).
You fail to mention that there’s a history of ignorant / narrow-minded doctors gaslighting patients with uncommon or not well researched actual chronic illnesses.
Some people’s Long Covid symptoms are too outlierish in their severity to be anything that develops normally. E.g., people who used to be highly into sports report that they get out of breath just climbing stairs, and that this persists for a period of years. My impression is that this sort of thing never just happens without an identifiable cause. (I’m uncertain whether that type of Long Covid can happen after asymptomatic infection. That would be important to know to ascertain the use of vaccines for preventing Long Covid!)
The persistence of anosmia doesn’t entail that other symptoms are caused by Covid. (IIRC the relevant cells in the nose take a while to regenerate). Though I agree this provides some evidence that Covid is the cause.
This predicts that you’d find organ damage in these patients. Are there studies showing clear organ damage in people with mild cases 6 months later?
I disagree. This does happen without an identifiable cause.
But it raises the probability.