The Long COVID Observatory is a suite of tools that uses scientific information to study Long COVID, especially the symptoms and other health problems that come with it. The tools provide a visual overview of 14,842 research papers from the Long COVID database curated by the US National Library of Medicine. The terms that co-occur in a publication may be there due to multiple reasons. For example, a summary paper may have a long list of different terms that are all associated with long COVID, or a short list of most common symptoms. Higher rates of co-occurance of particular terms in many papers indicates that there are connections that are worth clarifying between those terms reflecting different diseases, symptoms, and treatments mentioned. Given the variety of possible reasons for associations that might be possible, it is essential to investigate potential insights gained by looking directly at the references that are cited. There are two main parts: the Long COVID Trees and the Long COVID Terms’ Lifepaths.
The Long COVID Trees are diagrams that organize diseases, symptoms, and chemicals, showing how they’re connected to specific parts of the body or treatments. These pictures give us summaries of what scientists have learned about Long COVID from all the research. For example, the large overall tree of Long COVID shows how it is related to terms describing symptoms and other diseases. For someone with diabetes, the search-customized tree can show how Long COVID might affect their body and what treatments were investigated. For someone who suffers from brain fog (‘mental fatigue’ in the visualization), the disease tree shows what other pathological conditions, signs and symptoms it might be related to; how it might affect cardiovascular and mental health, immune and nervous system. The tree of chemicals shows which treatments or chemicals have been considered for potential roles in Long COVID. Disease trees show that Long COVID isn’t just about a simple list of symptoms; it’s a complicated condition where people can have various health issues from different symptoms depending on what other comorbidities they suffer from. This may help medical doctors to develop more tailored approaches towards treating Long COVID.
The Long COVID Terms’ Lifepaths tool shows trends of terms related to diseases, symptoms, and chemicals in the scientific literature about Long COVID. It reveals trends in the usage of terms related to diseases, symptoms, and chemicals in Long COVID research. In general, the frequency of use of a term will start, accelerate, decelerate, and saturate in usage in the literature. This may reflect new insights, gaining of knowledge, resolution of questions that are being addressed, or terms becoming obsolete due to other insights. This helps doctors and researchers understand what’s currently important in Long COVID research and what emerging trends to be aware of. This may help medical doctors to get insights about symptoms related to specific COVID waves and variants.
Disclaimer! The information provided in this website is for general informational purposes only. While efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information, it is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Long COVID Observatory