Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Long Covid Study Points To Depleted Serotonin As Possible 'Brain Fog' Cause
Stat: Serotonin Levels Are Depleted In Long Covid Patients, Study Says, Pointing To A Potential Cause For ‘Brain Fog’
If you’ve been following the mystery of long Covid since it emerged in 2020, you’ll recall interferons and serotonin have been clues from the start as combatants in the body’s prolonged battles against the virus. Theories about why symptoms persist long after the acute infection has cleared often point to two suspects: viral reservoirs where SARS-CoV-2 lingers and inflammation sparked by the infection that doesn’t subside. (Cooney, 10/16)
The New York Times: Scientists Offer A New Explanation For Long Covid
A team of scientists is proposing a new explanation for some cases of long Covid, based on their findings that serotonin levels were lower in people with the complex condition. In their study, published on Monday in the journal Cell, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania suggest that serotonin reduction is triggered by remnants of the virus lingering in the gut. Depleted serotonin could especially explain memory problems and some neurological and cognitive symptoms of long Covid, they say. (Belluck, 10/16)
Bloomberg: Long Covid Study Links Lingering Virus With Bowel-To-Brain Havoc
Viral vestiges in the gastrointestinal tracts of a subset of long-Covid patients may drive chronic inflammation that interferes with a key chemical messenger involved in nerve activity, brain function and memory, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reported Monday in the journal Cell. The findings provide an explanation for poor concentration, memory problems and other neurocognitive symptoms in long Covid, they said. Importantly, their experiments identified Prozac and other drugs that boost levels of the chemical messenger — serotonin — as promising targets for future study. (Gale, 10/16)
More on long covid —
MedPage Today: Mixed Signals For Paxlovid And Long COVID Risk In CDC Study
Use of nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) during the acute phase of COVID-19 appeared to significantly reduce the risk of post-COVID conditions (PCCs) in older adults at high risk for severe disease, but may have increased the risk in adolescents, according to a large case-control study from the CDC. In adults ages 50 and up, the risk of PCCs was lower among those who received nirmatrelvir-ritonavir, with relative risks (RRs) of one or more PCC of 0.91 (95% CI 0.91-0.92) and two or more PCCs of 0.86 (95% CI 0.85-0.87), reported Alexandra Dalton, PhD, of the CDC's Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division, during a late-breaking abstract session at the IDWeekopens in a new tab or window annual meeting. (Sullivan, 10/16)
Medscape: 6% of Workers' Comp Cases Are for Long COVID, But Many Can't Collect
Long COVID cases now account for 6% of all workers' compensation claims, according to a new study released by the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI), a nonprofit research and trade group. But many who have filed such claims have been unable to collect, in part because of variations in how states administer the insurance program designed to protect people who get sick or injured on the job, experts say. Among the workers who are struggling to receive benefits are essential workers — hospital staff, medics, teachers, and others who were unable to work remotely during the early days of the pandemic, often putting themselves at higher risk for infection. (Ready, 10/16)
Psychology Today: Patients Are Desperate For Better Long COVID Treatments
Ty Godwin loved marathons. The dedicated runner got COVID-19 in January 2020 and was diagnosed with long COVID a year later. Ty's journey in search of recovery has been recorded on the blog he originally started to document his frequent running with a child with special needs through Team Hoyt San Diego. ... Ty has had more than 200 doctors' appointments as he works to restore his health to what it was. Ty says that one of the primary blocks to his recovery is “gaslighters and deniers” in the medical profession. (Brewis and Mendenhall, 10/16)
