Studies have found links between poor mental health and long-term Covid.long covid

People who are very stressed, anxious, lonely or depressed before contracting coronavirus tend to have Covid longer than those with good mental health, according to a major study.

A Harvard analysis of health data from nearly 55,000 US volunteers, mostly women, found that high levels of pre-Covid emotional distress increased long-term disease risk by 32% to 46%. did.

The results highlight the urgent need to support people with mental health challenges and the importance of building mental health resilience more broadly to mitigate the long-term effects of Covid.

“Depression, stress and loneliness are very common, and the fact that these significantly increase the risk of Covid over time is noteworthy,” says Andrea, a senior research scientist at Harvard TH Chan Public Schools. Roberts said. health“The associations were stronger with these risk factors than others known to be associated with long-term Covid, such as obesity, hypertension and asthma.

a a sizable minority 80% of people infected with COVID-19 develop long-term, often debilitating illnesses such as fatigue, shortness of breath, brain fog and heart problems.about 1 in 6 middle-aged people 1 in 13 young adults in the UK have symptoms lasting more than 3 months. It is thought to be caused by multiple causes, such as tissue damage and an abnormal immune response due to residual viruses remaining in the body.

The relationship between mental health and long-term Covid is unknown, but mental distress can cause chronic inflammation, disrupt the immune system, and make people more vulnerable to long-term Covid. the researchers point out. JAMA Psychiatry.

A Harvard University team used a questionnaire to rank the mental health of 54,960 US volunteers. health sciences for nurses and the Growing research todayMost of the volunteers were white female nurses between the ages of 40 and 70. In April 2020, no one tested positive for Covid, but the following year she had more than 3,000 people with the virus and documented symptoms.

People who had high scores for depression, stress, anxiety, loneliness, and worry before being infected with COVID-19 were more likely to report symptoms lasting longer than a month. Such ongoing symptoms were 49% more likely in those who had two or more forms of emotional distress than in those who did not report them at all. Similar findings were seen in those who had symptoms lasting at least two months.

All Covid symptoms, except coughing and problems with smell and taste, were more common in people who had suffered before contracting the virus. Those who had no health problems were 15% to 51% more likely to say that Covid had disrupted their daily lives over the long term.

The findings do not imply that mental health problems cause long-term Covid. More than 40% of those who had long-term Covid in the study had no signs of distress prior to infection.

Mental health is known to affect several diseases.Stress is associated with greater susceptibility cold others respiratory tract infection. Researcher in London Another study of people with multiple sclerosis found that people with anxiety and depression Recovery from Covid takes longer.

Siwen Wang, an epidemiologist at Harvard University and lead author of the study, says it’s important to make quality care accessible to people with poor mental health. “Future research should investigate whether better management of psychological distress can prevent people from contracting COVID-19 or improve their symptoms,” she said. I was.

Claire Steves, Professor of Aging and Health at King’s College London, was part of the team that last year found a link between mental health and long-term Covid, and the Harvard study suggests support for vulnerable people. Emphasized the need to build and improve mental resilience across the population. “This association does not mean that previous mental health problems prolong Covid, but rather mental health problems increase individual vulnerability. This is because changes appear in everyday life.”

Adrian James, president of the Royal Psychiatric Society, said, “People with severe mental illness are at higher risk of developing a range of physical health problems, including long-term Covid-19. We are still learning about the impact, but we do know that Covid can cause debilitating symptoms over the long term. Care must be accessible.

“It is also important to continue research on the long-term effects of Covid on people with pre-existing mental illnesses to ensure the best standard of care for patients in the future.”

The findings come as a new initiative to investigate long-term Covid and potential treatment launches in the United States. Co-founded by researchers and patients from institutions such as Harvard University, Yale University, and Johns Hopkins University, Long Covid Research Initiative (LCRI) Focus on theories that Covid could linger Caused by virus remaining in the body.

Amy Proal, Ph.D., a microbiologist at the PolyBio Research Foundation and chief scientific officer at LCRI, said the team could help determine whether patients still carry the virus, where it might be lurking, and how the immune system and human He said that he will investigate how it might affect the gene expression of drive disease. We also investigate the possible role of virally produced proteins, such as the spike protein, in issues ranging from clotting to neuroinflammation.

LCRI has raised over $15 million from Balvi, the direct endowment fund of cryptocurrency entrepreneur Vitalik Buterin. The team notes that philanthropic funding reduces the time spent applying for grants. Working with the Lean organization, they hope this approach will expedite their research.

The approach is essential given that more people are getting sick with Covid for a long time each day and waiting lists for clinics are growing, said Proal. We need to be involved in every sector, not only,” she said.