A recently published study in the journal Nature Medicine found that a significant number of COVID-19 patients exhibited signs of lung inflammation while feeling otherwise healthy. According to their findings, the scientists determined that nearly 67 percent of the asymptomatic individuals studied had damage in one lung, and 33 percent had damage in both lungs. “To find so many asymptomatic patients with such significant changes on CTs is quite surprising,” Alvin Ing, MD, a professor of respiratory medicine at Macquarie University, who was not involved with the study, told NPR. This is not the first study to find such results in asymptomatic patients either. A recent report from China found that a majority of patients with no symptoms had developed lung lesions. RELATED: For more up-to-date information, sign up for our daily newsletter. Doctors say this level of pulmonary distress is on par with walking pneumonia and believe it’s often only temporary. And the good news is they think there’s little chance that such mild cases would result in lifelong effects. “I suspect that, if you followed up with these asymptomatic people in several months, most of their CT scans would be completely normal unless they were known to later develop symptoms,” Jennifer Taylor-Cousar, MD, a pulmonologist at National Jewish Health in Denver, told NPR. And for more on potential COVID-19 side effects, check out You Could Develop This Serious Condition If You Get Coronavirus.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
