Thrive by IU Health

October 30, 2024

What we know about COVID-19 impacts to the body in 2024

What we know about COVID-19 impacts to the body in 2024

For most people, contracting the COVID-19 virus brings mild symptoms, some minor discomfort and perhaps some days off work or school. Fortunately, most people who now get COVID-19 do not experience a severe reaction to this viral infection.

But after five years of studying the virus in millions of different people, physicians and scientists know that COVD-19 can affect different bodies in different ways.

“COVID-19’s impact on your body depends on whether you have a mild, moderate or severe infection. The aftereffects on the body can really vary a lot between people, depending on the recovery and initial infection,” said Dr. Ali Murtaza, an internal medicine physician at IU Health. “Some people can recover without any long-term consequences while others experience chronic fatigue syndrome or even organ damage.”

Scientists still aren’t sure why the COVID-19 virus affects people so differently. It can vary from person to person, though its effects are typically worse on people with chronic health conditions. This includes people with diabetes, obesity, compromised immune systems or heart, lung or kidney disease.

Age can also have an impact. Younger adults are less likely to have complications from COVID-19 and tend to recover from the virus quicker when compared to older adults. However, younger people aren’t completely free from risk.

“Patients with high risk for severe COVID often experience complicated infections, but we’ve even seen young, healthy adults end up in the hospital on ventilators,” Dr. Murtaza said. “I took care of a 20-year-old patient who had heart failure to the point that they couldn’t breathe. It’s quite variable, so when we say young patients have a low risk for complications, that does not mean they can’t get a severe infection.”

What COVID-19 does to the body

Severe COVID-19 infections can lead to a variety of long-term effects on the body that can last for days, weeks or even months. COVID-19 symptoms that last for weeks, months or even years are diagnosed as “long COVID.” A serious infection can lead to damage in different body systems, depending on how your body reacts with a particular strain of the virus. This can include:

  • Lungs: The most well-known serious side effect of COVID-19 is in the lungs. Severe COVID-19 infections can lead to pneumonia, which is a lung infection. Severe pneumonia leads people to require oxygen or even a ventilator to breathe. Pneumonia can cause enough damage from a COVID-19 infection that some people will need a lung transplant.
  • Heart: In some people, COVID-19 can cause several heart problems. Severe infections can damage the myocardium, or muscle layer in the heart. This can lead to inflammation or atrial fibrillation (“AFib,” or an irregular heartbeat). If left untreated, these conditions can lead to heart failure.
  • Liver: This is another major organ that can be damaged by a COVID-19 infection. Sometimes patients make a complete recovery from kidney damage, but still up with permanent damage and reduced kidney function.
  • Blood clots: A COVID-19 infection can increase the risk for blood clots in some people. Blood clots can travel throughout the body and cause problems in the lungs, heart or brain. This increase risk can sometimes last for months after an infection.
  • Stomach or digestive issues: For some patients, severe COVID-19 leads to digestive issues like diarrhea, lack of appetite, constipation or stomach pain.
  • Chronic fatigue: One of the most common effects of COVID-19 on the human body is fatigue or feeling tired or foggy. This can be a result of a COVID-19 infection, or it can also result from long COVID.

These short- and long-term effects on the body can lead to psychological or emotional issues related to stress, hospitalizations and other issues patients experience. It’s often a combination of issues that lead to mood disorders, which you should discuss with your provider.

“If someone has fatigue, we usually see other symptoms with that. It’s usually part of a constellation of symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, low mood and low energy levels,” Dr. Murtaza said. “If somebody is experiencing anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or any other persistent mental health issues because of COVID effects, it’s a good idea to discuss these concerns with your doctor. Like any other mental health condition, you may consider talk therapy or pharmacotherapy.”

Vaccinating against COVID-19

Fortunately, vaccinations can help you avoid severe cases of COVID-19 that lead to long-term impacts on the body. Aside from practicing clean hand hygiene and wearing masks to prevent infection exposure, vaccines are the next best stop to avoid serious health problems from the virus.

The two main vaccines used in the United States use what’s called messenger RNA (mRNA) to teach our immune systems to fight this infection. This type of vaccine is particularly helpful because it offers two layers of defense by:

  1. Reducing the risk of infection and
  2. Reducing the likelihood that you’ll have a serious infection, if you do get COVID-19. This means you’re less likely to experience the severe effects on the body.

Prevention through healthy living

Vaccination can help you avoid a severe COVID-19 infection, but you can also protect your body by managing chronic health problems. By moving your body through gentle exercise each day, eating fruits, vegetables and lean meats and working to manage diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions, you can improve the odds that you will not experience a severe COVID-19 infection.

Related Services

Urgent Care

At our urgent care walk-in locations, we treat non-life threatening injuries and illnesses with no appointment needed. Save your spot in line online. We also offer occupational health services.

Featured Providers

Murtaza Ali, MD

Internal Medicine

View More Providers