Lower sex drive and losing hair among long COVID symptoms, study says. What to know

Julia Marnin
·4 min read
11

Long COVID symptoms make up a lengthy list — and a lower sex drive and losing hair are among those identified in new research.

More than two years into the coronavirus pandemic, the findings add to a growing body of studies seeking to understand the condition in which lingering effects of the virus may persist for weeks, months or years.

“Long Covid sufferers have experienced a wider set of symptoms than previously thought,” a news release on the study, which involved researchers from the University of Birmingham, said.

In total, a reduced libido and hair loss were named alongside 60 other symptoms found to be “significantly associated” with long COVID at least 12 weeks after an infection in the research published July 25 in the journal Nature Medicine.

The 62 symptoms were divided into more than a dozen domains, including categories such as breathing, reproductive health and mental health, according to the peer-reviewed study which examined more than 2 million health records of people living in the U.K.

“This research validates what patients have been telling clinicians and policy makers throughout the pandemic, that the symptoms of Long Covid are extremely broad and cannot be fully accounted for by other factors such as lifestyle risk factors or chronic health conditions,” senior study author Dr Shamil Haroon, of the University of Birmingham, said in a statement.

In May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated 1 in 5 adults may develop at least one post-COVID symptom following a COVID-19 infection, McClatchy News previously reported. The risk is slightly higher for those 65 and older.

Long COVID may begin at least four weeks after testing positive for COVID-19, according to the CDC.

More on the study

For the study, researchers in the U.K. examined 486,149 non-hospitalized adults who previously tested positive for COVID-19 and 1.9 million people who have never reported a COVID-19 infection between January 2020 and April 2021.

Those with a prior COVID-19 infection were “more likely to report more than one symptom after 12 weeks” compared to those with no record of a COVID-19 infection, according to the research.

While some of the long COVID symptoms identified by researchers have been reported in prior studies — such as loss of smell, shortness of breath, chest pain, and fever — others have not been widely reported, including loss of hair and sexual dysfunction, the study found.

Reproductive health symptoms of long COVID alongside a lower sex drive, according to researchers, include:

  • Ejaculation difficulty

  • Erectile dysfunction

  • Vaginal discharge

  • Menstrual bleeding lasting more than seven days

The symptom of hair loss was reported under the hair, skin and nails category in the research. Other symptoms under that category include itchy skin, dry and scaly skin, rash and nail changes.

“This study is instrumental in creating and adding further value to understanding the complexity and pathology of long COVID,” study co-author Jennifer Camaradou said in a statement. “It highlights the degree and diversity of expression of symptoms between different clusters.”

Those at higher risk of developing long COVID

Of those who previously tested positive for COVID-19, the study suggests certain groups of people have a higher risk of developing symptoms of long COVID.

This includes females, younger individuals and people who are Black or of a mixed/other ethnic group, according to the research.

Other groups at a higher risk, according to study authors, include:

  • Those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds

  • Those who smoke

  • Those overweight or obese

  • Those with more than one medical condition

One limitation to the study, researchers wrote, is how the findings are based solely on electronic health care records and because of this, the data “is likely to underrepresent the true symptom burden experienced by individuals with long COVID.”

More on long COVID

In the U.S., roughly 28 million working-age adults, and likely more, have developed long COVID, workforce expert Katie Bach, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, testified at a House subcommittee hearing about the condition on July 19, McClatchy News reported.

About 16 million people in the U.S. are currently living with the condition, according to federal data, Bach said.

In the CDC’s study, the most common long COVID symptoms were identified as respiratory symptoms and musculoskeletal pain.

While the experiences of those with long COVID range, most people diagnosed with it were never hospitalized due to their initial infection, a study published as a white paper in May found, McClatchy News previously reported.

In regards to the University of Birmingham study, Haroon said “the results are both a testament to the opportunities that these public health datasets provide, and to the power of collaborative work to provide much needed evidence around the experiences of many people who have been affected by persistent symptoms after infection with the coronavirus.”

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