Large study provides powerful evidence of long covid's lasting impact

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

A new long-covid study based on the experiences of nearly 100,000 participants provides powerful evidence that many people do not fully recover months after being infected with the coronavirus. The Scottish study found that between six and 18 months after infection, 1 in 20 people had not recovered and 42 percent reported feeling only somewhat better.

There were some reassuring aspects to the results: People with asymptomatic infections are unlikely to suffer long-term effects, and vaccination appears to offer some protection from long covid. “It’s one more well-conducted, population-level study showing that we should be extremely concerned about the current numbers of acute infections,” said David Putrino, director of rehabilitation innovation for the Mount Sinai Health System in New York. “We are in trouble.”

Jill Pell, a professor of public health at the University of Glasgow who led the research, emphasized that the study revealed the wide-ranging impact of long covid on people’s lives. “There are lots of different impacts going beyond health to quality of life, employment, schooling and the ability to look after yourself,” she said.

The paper, published Wednesday in Nature Communications, represents the first findings of an ongoing study into long covid — the Long-CISS (Covid in Scotland Study).

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/10/12/long-covid-study-scotland/

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(WaPo has maintained COVID-19 articles with no paywall)

[Ford_Prefect]

1. Is it still a Chinese Hoax arranged with Hillary, Big Technology, Disney and the Deep State?

Do I send money to the pillow guy or was it thoughts and prayers?

[Javaman]

2. In summation: get your shots nt

[Anon-C]

6. Thank goodness our Marshall Plan to bring our youngest generation back up to speed...

...oh wait.

[cyclonefence]

4. What do I do?

I'm a 75-year-old woman who was hospitalized with covid. I'm not from a low-income group, and I was fully vacc'd and boostered. I was very sick.

My covid was in the last two weeks of July. It took two weeks after that for me to be able to read again or even follow the plot of a tv show. I was unsure about what year it is for a long time. I do have a pre-existing lung condition (COPD), but I now cough enough to wake myself (and my husband) up at night. Worst of all is the fatigue. I go back to bed at least twice a day--I mean undress, get under the covers, and go to sleep for an hour or three--not just nap. It's hard to get back to my normal routine. Going to the grocery store just about kills me.

I have good medical care. What am I supposed to do now? Just waste away? (I was down to 120 in the hospital; now I'm back to 135-40, but it's an effort to eat enough.) What can I do about long covid? I'm old and cranky, but I'm not ready to be this debilitated for whatever years remain to me, and I'm certainly not ready to shuffle off this mortal coil, especially since I got this disease from some fucker who refused to wear a mask or get vaccinated. I think that's what has pissed me off most about this. Like I told my doctor, I could handle getting hit by a bus, but this?

[Mz Pip]

5. How scary!

It sounds like you did everything you were supposed to do yet here you are. We’re close to the same age and I know I’m really sick of having what’s left of my life put on hold because of this disease. It’s frustrating.

All we can hope for is there will be more and more treatment and prevention information as they learn more about this awful disease.

Hang in there.

[cyclonefence]

12. Thank you

This is the kind of thing that can make you think you're going crazy! Fortunately (for me), others have the same symptoms, so maybe that will help spur treatment options.

But thank you for caring.

[Skittles]

7. worthy of its own thread

perhaps to hear from others

I feel for you, cyclonefence, it's hard to live a quality life while suffering from chronic fatigue.....just know that Covid is still relatively new and the science folk are working on it.....hopefully that will lead to new treatments.

Just know that someone is always here on DU, we are here for you.

[cyclonefence]

11. Thank you

I never understood about "chronic fatigue syndrome," but I do now.

This group never fails to be supportive of its members in distress.

[Skittles]

13. I often worked 12 hour night shift on two or three hours sleep

the only plus was I knew my next sleep session would be good and I'd wake up feeling great.......I cannot even imagine feeling that kind of fatigue endlessly, very hard getting motivated

I'm assuming you're not in the workforce or looking after children, can you imagine dealing with that while being chronically fatigued....I can't even.....

[lostnfound]

9. I found an article hinting that magnesium deficiencies may contribute to long Covid problems

A family member is having severe fatigue, sleep disruption, brain fog, some depression, headaches. And what looks like weird postprandial hypoglycemia to my eyes — after he eats, especially pasta, his energy level goes to absolute zero and he feels terrible.

Magnesium is weird. It often gets depleted, and especially in older people, but levels in blood can actually be higher when it is very depleted, because it circulates in the blood MORE when there’s a shortage in the ORGANS that need it — the brain, the heart, the muscles. Only 5% of magnesium is in the blood. So blood concentration is NOT a good indicator of magnesium levels.

Deficiency of magnesium can cause tiredness, generalized
weakness, muscle cramps, abnormal heart rhythms, increased
irritability of the nervous system with tremors, paresthesias,
palpitations, low potassium levels in the blood,
hypoparathyroidism which might result in low calcium levels in the
blood, chondrocalcinosis, spasticity and tetany, migraines, [7]
epileptic seizures, [8] basal ganglia calcifications[9] and in extreme
and prolonged cases coma, intellectual disability or death. [10]
Magnesium plays an important role in carbohydrate metabolism
and its deficiency may worsen insulin resistance, a condition that
often precedes diabetes, or may be a consequence of insulin
resistance.{111

This technical paper describes the hypothesis that magnesium deficiencies have something to do with long COVID. Half of it is over my h head but the section 3.4 and 3.5 where you’ll find figures 6and 7mare fascinating glimpses into how important magnesium is in biochemical pathways. The top figure shows Mg2+ in several places; the bottom one shows orange circles with “P” in them which is ATP/magnesium reaction. ATP adenosine triphosphate is an energy molecule and every reaction requires magnesium.
https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=117413

Take it easy, I hope you feel better.

[cyclonefence]

10. Thank you very much

for the reference to the article about magnesium. My levels have been fine--they test my blood it seems like once a week--but what it looks like blood levels might not mean squat.

I will try to read the article, and I certainly will print it out and give it to my pulmonologist at my next appointment, which is Monday.

Thanks again.

[lostnfound]

8. Neurological consequences

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-02001-z#MOESM2

We show increased risk of an array of neurologic disorders spanning several neurologic disease categories including stroke (both ischemic and hemorrhagic), cognition and memory disorders, peripheral nervous system disorders, episodic disorders, extrapyramidal and movement disorders, mental health disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, sensory disorders, and other disorders including Guillain–Barré syndrome, and encephalitis or encephalopathy. The risks were evident in all examined subgroups and were evident even in people who were not hospitalized during the acute phase of the disease