ArcaMax

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. This is not simply being tired; it is exhaustion. Our physician has ordered multiple tests (for his heart, lungs, etc.), and nothing else turns up.

When speaking with friends who have had COVID, they say that lingering symptoms continue. Some continue to experience things such as vertigo daily, an inability to walk without a walker, a persistent runny nose, a nagging cough, tiredness, etc. Do you know where these aftereffects are being gathered to enable scientists to further their research in this area? -- D.D.G.

ANSWER: Most people feel pretty much back to normal within a few weeks after a COVID infection, but you have pointed out only a small fraction of the symptoms that people can experience after a COVID infection. A recent study has shown an increase in autoimmune diseases, for example. How often this happens is hard to know for sure, but I have read estimates that somewhere between 6% and 15% of people will have at least one persistent symptom after a COVID infection.

People who are older and heavier are at a higher risk, as are women compared to men. Preexisting lung or psychiatric conditions can predispose people to persistent symptoms. The worse the COVID symptoms are, the more likely someone has persistent symptoms.

Many research groups are working on this problem. I went to ClinicalTrials.gov and found 520 ongoing studies with researchers who are trying to understand why it happens and how to develop effective treatments. It's not just one institution; there are studies from all over the world.

More evidence has recently been published, showing that people who are up-to-date with their vaccines receive some protection from long COVID. New vaccines are expected to be released in the fall.

DEAR DR. ROACH: I read your recent column on cellphone radiation. When I was in the army and it was cold, we would warm up by standing in front of the radar antenna. The peak power transmitted was about 150 megawatts, as I recall. I am now 95, so it has not done me any harm. A cellphone only transmits a few milliwatts! -- A.T.E.

ANSWER: Thank you for your service. The United States Army hasn't always been as careful as we would like with the health of their soldiers, especially when you would have been serving, but I am glad no harm came to you.

The type of radiation coming from a radar antenna is a high-frequency radio wave, and the energy gets transmitted as heat to the skin if a person is nearby, as you found out. It's the same as being inside a microwave oven. However, the power output of your particular radar installation was equal to about 150,000 microwave ovens. This type of energy is not ionizing and doesn't predispose people 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. They can suffer thermal damage if you are too close for too long, since the blood supply to those organs may be insufficient to dissipate the heat. Cataracts are a possible outcome from continued exposure.

I must emphasize that you have to be very close to the actual radar dish to get heated up effectively, since the power dissipates quickly with distance. We are in complete agreement that the power output of a cellphone (normally 600 milliwatts, less than 1/1000 of a microwave) is very unlikely to have any detrimental long-term health outcomes.

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Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu or send mail to 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.

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