Abdominal pain, loss of appetite, itchiness, or cramps? It could be coronavirus. New research indicates gastrointestinal symptoms in COVID-19 patients examined, some with fatal outcomes.
Coronavirus has a number of symptoms, including common cough, tiredness, and high temperature. Now bowel problems could be a symptom of a COVID-19 infection and are being suggested to be placed on a list of official signs that expands near daily.
With a pandemic that’s killing thousands, keeping cities totally closed down and spreading rapidly; stomach and bowel pain were the “most common indicators” for cat scans in a hospital study of 400 COVID-19 patients. The new research in the journal Radiology discovered 17% of individuals they observed had bowel problems as a symptom of the virus.
Bowel pain can kill. Symptoms in some patients were dire and even showed signs of organ death.
More than half of COVID-19 patients who received ultrasounds had manifestations of cholestasis or obstruction of bile flowing from the liver. Symptoms are severe itching, dark-colored urine, and pale-colored bowel movements. Loss of appetite is also a symptom, even discoloration of the skin or eyes.
Some of the more advanced patients had swollen bowels and permanent damage to the intestines. These infection symptoms indicate that the virus decimated the immune system in those large organs. Other symptoms revealed organ shutdown in the bowels of some patients.
“We discovered bowel abnormalities on imaging in COVID-19 patients, more frequently in sicker patients who were admitted to the ICU. Some of the findings were characteristic of bowel ischemia, or dying bowel, and in those who underwent surgery, we observed small vessel clots alongside areas of dead bowel.”. ICU patients may have bowel ischemia due to other causes, but we understand that COVID-19 can cause clotting and damage to small vessels, so bowel may also be impacted by this,” researchers said.
Diarrhea is now a frequent symptom linked to coronavirus.
On CT, the colon filled with fluid was commonly observed, often taken to signify diarrhea,” stated the study. Whether it was an indication of the virus itself, or merely an indication that the body is trying to attack it with an impaired immune system, the symptom was extremely widespread in the patients suffering from COVID-19.
Forestalling vaccine development, researchers are working hurriedly to identify how the coronavirus is impacting everybody it enters and how the stomach and intestines are being damaged. Even though this study is fresh out of the box, it could illustrate how COVID-19 damages beyond the lungs because the gut is the hub of most body functions. “With increased testing capacity and numbers of cases globally, GI symptoms like diarrhea, nausea/vomiting, abdominal discomfort, and decreased appetite have been recognized more commonly,” said, researchers. “While lung damage is most frequent, liver damage of unknown cause has been noted in patients with COVID-19, with greater frequency in those with severe cases. “Monitor your belly pain or symptoms, and seek the advice of a doctor if you believe you may have coronavirus. Sonya Swink
