With the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, cases of lung damage are also on the rise in patients who have survived the disease. In particular, pulmonary fibrosis is commonly reported around the world and in India as well.

Pulmonary fibrosis is basically the inflammation or scarring of the lungs which in turn causes shortness of breath and fatigue.

Now a new article posted in Lung India says pulmonary fibrosis in recovered COVID patients is something physicians and thoracic physicians may have to deal with with greater frequency, according to a report by Indian express.

Understanding Pulmonary Fibrosis

Human lungs consist of alveoli, small cavity-like units where oxygen inhaled from the air diffuses into the blood capillaries and carbon dioxide from the blood diffuses into the air.

These cavities are lined with surfactants, substances that prevent the walls of the alveoli from sticking together. This is essential because it prevents the collapse of the alveoli when a respiratory cycle ends and the air pressure in the lungs drops.

If the surfactant is absent, the respiratory process becomes a challenge. This is why COVID-19 is so problematic.

SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, uses receptors called ACE2 to enter cells. But surfactant cells have a very high concentration of these same ACE2 receptors. SARS-CoV-2 enters and damages these cells via ACE2 receptors. What makes it worse is that in some COVID patients, the immune system goes haywire and reacts very aggressively against these cells infected with the virus, and accelerates the damage.

The reduction in the level of surfactant in the alveoli means that they collapse at the end of the respiratory cycle, and for further inflation, the patient’s respiratory muscles are under great stress.

These problems can persist even after the patient has technically “recovered” from the primary COVID infection, leading to complaints of shortness of breath, muscle pain, fatigue and coughing due to weeks of reduced lung capacity. , even months, after being struck by COVID-19.

Lung tissue damage and “long COVID”

In order to understand lung damage from COVID, researchers studied the lungs of people who died from the disease, and one surprisingly common feature was extensive lung damage. This has led researchers to look for similar signs in patients who are suffering from what is now called “long COVID.”

One of the important findings is that while COVID-19 destroys cells infected with the virus, in many cases these abnormal cells persist inside the lungs for long periods of time.

This long-term damage to lung tissue makes COVID-19 different from other forms of pneumonia.

Antifibrosis drugs have given mixed results so far, and some patients continue to need oxygen therapy and have to practice breathing for months after discharge from hospital. Drug treatments are usually a mixture of steroids and anti-fibrotics.

As pulmonologists and lung disease experts increasingly assess cases of pulmonary fibrosis in “long COVID” patients, treatments will hopefully become more effective.