I cant do anything for several days, she says.
Soares began logging her symptoms.
Among the more than 200 she observed, the bizarre changes in her menstrual cycle caught her attention.
She also noted that her long COVID symptoms seemed to worsen around her period.
There was my just intrinsic curiosity as a scientist of just, What is going on?
I was like,hmm, thats really interesting, she says.
co-director of the Johns Hopkins Post-Acute COVID-19 Team and assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation
And it might make sense with what we know about immunology and what we think about long COVID.
So lets attempt to study this formally.
But some 2021 observationalresearch6suggests peoples long COVID symptoms do seem to worsen just before or during their periods.
Heres How I Finally Figured It Out
Male is currently working on two studies to explore this observation.
Other research suggests long COVID might have consequences for fertility.
In addition to infertility, POI may be associated with chronic conditions including osteoporosis and heart disease.
This doesnt mean endometriosis causes long COVID, but it confirms earlierresearch13suggesting it could be a risk factor.
Both Male and Pollack say its possible that a live but undetected virus may lurk in the body.
(Researchers are alsoexploring16whether, similar to long COVID, endometriosis might be triggered by an infection.)
co-director of the Johns Hopkins Post-Acute COVID-19 Team and assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation
The female sex hormones estrogen and progesteroneare known to17increase blood clotting.
For now, they say we need to keep digging.
Thats where research plays a crucial role: It offers subjective facts that help proveor debunkthese explanations.
And, once the truth is uncovered, it could eventually lead to improved treatments.
Where do we go from here?
Long COVID isnt going away anytime soon, and it affects a lot of people.
Thats actually my main driving goal, Male says.
Doctors already havesomeeffective treatment options.
Azola says hormone replacement therapy often helps patients with early perimenopausal symptoms, for example.
Most clinicians in general are curious and want to help people, she says.
Most importantly, believe what your body is telling you.
You are not supposed to feel debilitating pain in your period.
Sometimes I think that we just lose perspective of what is normal, Soares says.
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