Dear Dr Roach, Is there a research group studying the aftereffects of COVID? My husband has been exhausted since his second bout of COVID in June 2023. It’s not just fatigue; it’s exhaustion. Our doctor ordered several tests (for his heart, lungs, etc.), but nothing else has come up.
When I talk to friends who have had COVID, they say the symptoms still linger. Some continue to suffer from daily dizziness, cannot walk without a walker, have a constant runny nose, a nagging cough, fatigue, etc. Do you know where these after-effects are collected so that scientists can continue their research in this field?
— DDG
Dear DDG: Most people feel pretty normal again within a few weeks of a COVID infection, but you’ve only touched on a small subset of the symptoms people can experience after a COVID infection. For example, a recent study showed an increase in autoimmune diseases. How often this happens is hard to say for sure, but I’ve read estimates that between 6% and 15% of people will have at least one lingering symptom after a COVID infection.
Older and heavier people are at higher risk, as are women compared to men. Pre-existing lung or psychiatric conditions can predispose people to persistent symptoms. The worse the COVID symptoms, the more likely someone is to have persistent symptoms.
Many research groups are working on this problem. I visited ClinicalTrials.gov and found 520 ongoing trials where researchers are trying to understand the causes and develop effective treatments. It’s not just one institution; there are studies from all over the world.
Recently, more evidence has been published showing that people who are up to date with vaccinations have some protection against long COVID. New vaccines are expected to come onto the market in the fall.
Dear Dr Roach, I read your last article about cell phone radiation. When I was in the army and it was cold, we warmed ourselves up by standing in front of the radar antenna. The peak power was about 150 megawatts, as I recall. I’m 95 now, so it didn’t hurt me. A cell phone only emits a few milliwatts!
— ATE
Dear ATE: Thank you for your service. The U.S. Army has not always been as careful with the health of its soldiers as we would like, especially during your service, but I’m glad you were OK.
The type of radiation emitted by a radar antenna is a high frequency radio wave, and the energy is transferred to the skin as heat when a person is nearby, as you found out. That’s the same as being in a microwave oven. However, the power output of your particular radar was about the same as 150,000 microwave ovens. This type of energy is non-ionizing and doesn’t make people susceptible to cancer, but it does heat you up.
Two structures in the body are particularly vulnerable to this type of heating – the eyes and testicles. You can suffer thermal damage if you stay too close to them for too long, as the blood supply to these organs may not be sufficient to dissipate the heat. Cataracts are a possible consequence of prolonged exposure.
I must stress that you have to be very close to the actual radar dish to heat up effectively, as the power drops off rapidly with distance. We are in complete agreement that the power output of a cell phone (typically 600 milliwatts, less than 1/1000th of a microwave) is highly unlikely to have any harmful long-term health effects.
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