It's not just a runny nose and cough! Covid can also cause insomnia, scientists claim
It is perhaps best known for causing a dry cough and robbing you of your sense of taste and smell.
But Covid can also give you sleepless nights, scientists say.
A new study found that three out of four people with mild infections suffered from insomnia.
Researchers from Phenikaa University in Vietnam studied more than a thousand Covid patients who, although sick, never got sick enough to be hospitalized.
All were asked about their sleep patterns after a period of illness.
A study from Vietnam suggests that people infected with Covid may suffer from insomnia as a result (stock image)
Of the three-quarters who developed insomnia, one in five had a 'severe' form.
The results also showed that 50 percent of Covid patients who reported insomnia woke up more frequently during the night.
In addition, one in three found it harder to get a good night's sleep, slept shorter and had difficulty falling asleep.
Patients with anxiety or depression were more likely to experience insomnia while sick, researchers also found.
Lead author Dr Huong Hoang said that while previous studies had looked at insomnia and hospitalized Covid patients, none examined the impact on sleep in people with mild infections.
Routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night destroys your immune system and significantly increases your risk of developing numerous cancers. Even a moderate reduction in sleep for just a week can disrupt blood sugar levels so severely that you would be classified as pre-diabetic. Short sleep also increases the risk of your coronary arteries becoming clogged and brittle, putting you on the path to cardiovascular disease, stroke or heart failure. Maybe you've noticed that you crave junk food when you're tired? Too little sleep increases the concentration of a hormone that makes you feel hungry, while suppressing a companion hormone that signals food satisfaction
Compared to those studies, patients with mild infections reported insomnia more often than both the general population and hospitalized patients with Covid-19, the team claimed.
This, they say, could be due to the fact that patients recovering from Covid are more stressed and sensitive to changes in their physical health, causing them to experience poorer sleep.
However, they said more research is needed into the relationship between Covid infections, mental health problems and insomnia.
Dr. Hoang said, “If you don't suffer much from insomnia, you can take some simple actions, such as taking a warm shower before going to bed, turning off your phone at least an hour before going to bed, exercising for 30 minutes a day, and avoiding caffeine after 4 p.m.
'If you really suffer from insomnia, you can try some sleep aids. If they don't help, go to a sleep therapist.'
She added: 'As a sleep researcher, I received many questions and complaints from family members, friends and colleagues about their sleep disturbances after recovering from Covid.'
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in public healthwas based on an online survey of 1,056 Covid patients who had been infected in the past six months.
Dr. Hoang acknowledged that the nature of the study may have influenced the type of patients who participated, which in turn influenced the results.
She added that the time difference between the infection and the time the survey was conducted may also have affected the accuracy of patients' memories of their sleep patterns.