A study led by Nanyang Technological University in Singapore have learned that people recovering from COVID-19 may be at risk of developing blood clots. The team of researchers are linking blood clot formation increasing after COVID-19 as a symptom from “long-haul COVID”.
In some cases the symptom of blood clots increase the risk of:
· Heart attacks
· Stroke
· Organ failure
The team from Nanyang Technological University collected and examined 30 blood samples from COVID-19 patients who recovered a month after recovering from the infection. They found that all recovered patients has signs of blood vessel damage.
This is due to an overactive immune system and patients recovering from COVID-19 are seen to produce high levels of proteins that activate the immune response to fight a viral infection. At the same time COVID-19 patients are seen to have twice the normal number of circulating endothelial cells due to shedding of damaged blood vessel walls.
The presence of both even after recovering from COVID-19 shows the body is still working hard to fight of a viral infection that you no longer need to fight. Due to this action in the body, patients are susceptible to blood clots and preventative therapy may be needed.