Virologists called a possible change in the color of the legs due to COVID-19

After suffering a CORONAVIRUS, people may change the color of their legs, experts interviewed by RBC said.

Scientists from the British University of Leeds published a study in the Lancet, which talks about the consequences of a long covid-19  - various medium and long-term consequences due to the coronavirus. The article deals with a 30-year-old patient who complained about a change in the color of his legs for more than a year: when he stood, his legs became purple, he also felt itching and heaviness in the limbs, and when lying down, his legs returned to their usual state.

Doctors diagnosed the man with dysautonomia - a malfunction of the autonomic NERVOUS SYSTEM - caused by a long COVID-19. The change in the color of the legs, in their opinion, is associated with the accumulation of venous blood. The patient was advised to consume more fluids and SALT, and to do exercises to strengthen the muscles.

An infectious disease DOCTOR, professor, doctor of medical sciences Nikolai Malyshev told RBC that the symptoms described in the Lancet could indeed be a consequence of a coronavirus. “Covid affects blood vessels, including veins. <...> There are many different symptoms of a long covid. In a particular patient, the veins are probably more affected. it can be assumed that the valve starts to work poorly, as a result, stagnation occurs, ”he said.

Malyshev added that experts are still studying the coronavirus and its effect on the body: “The more we study, the more symptoms will appear.” He explained that many specialists who were not originally infectious disease specialists began to treat COVID-19 during the pandemic. They “remained the need to study the specialty in which they are the main specialists,” and they began to identify new consequences of the virus.

Virologist, DIRECTOR of the US Global Virological Network Center Konstantin Chumakov also told RBC that what was described in the Lancet "looks like the truth." “Long covid is a well-known phenomenon, and it manifests itself in very different ways. Judging by the fact that they wrote a scientific article based on one case, such symptoms are very rare, ”he said.