A long-awaited study that zeroes in on the most common groups of symptoms for people with long Covid may not bring the relief millions of people and doctors have been wanting.

The study, some of the first research from the National Institutes of Health’s billiondollar RECOVER program, does not provide a standardized definition of the condition. Researchers say it is a first step in identifying “common language” for scientists working toward treatments for the condition. The new research is meant to help scientists move forward in finding a treatment for a condition that still plagues millions of people around the world.

The new study, published recentlyin the Journal of the American Medical Association, looked at data from 9,764 adults in the RECOVER trial, which has been recruiting participants since last year. The vast majority, 8,646 people, had previously been diagnosed with Covid.

While hundreds of symptoms possibly associated with long Covid have long been reported , mostly through anecdotes from patients the new study homes in on 12 of the most common.These include; ongoing fatigue,brain fog,dizziness,thirst, heart palpitations and loss of smell or taste,amongst others. The aim of the paper is not to limit the definition of long

Covid to these 12 symptoms only. It’s meant to focus future research into those symptoms as scientists work to figure out how long Covid affects the body in so many different ways. It also includes a scoring system that can be tailored to each patient based on the severity of their symptoms.

Critics have however pointed out the paper is focusing on problems people have long known they have and it is not offering any solutions, that offers any therapeutics. And that is desperately what people want, hope in the form of treatments, Meanwhile, researchers said they expect to start enrolling long Covid patients in clinical trials for treatments this year.