Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Stress, Depression May Worsen Long Covid Risk
Stat: Study: Stress And Depression Are Indicators Of Long Covid Risk
Studies have repeatedly suggested that physical conditions like immunosuppression and hypertension can increase a person’s risk not only for severe Covid but also long Covid. But in a new study, researchers found that psychological stressors such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness were more predictive of Covid patients’ likelihood of experiencing long Covid than classically associated physical factors. (Trang, 9/7)
CIDRAP: Sustained Psychological Distress May Be Tied To Long COVID
Among a cohort who never had COVID-19 but tested positive within 1 year after baseline, depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, and concerns about infection were linked to a 33% to 50% increased risk of self-reported postinfection symptoms lasting at least 4 weeks, as well as functional impairment, finds a study published today in JAMA Psychiatry. "We were surprised by how strongly psychological distress before a COVID-19 infection was associated with an increased risk of long COVID," said first author Siwen Wang, MD, a researcher in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in a Harvard news release. "Distress was more strongly associated with developing long COVID than physical health risk factors such as obesity, asthma, and hypertension." (Van Beusekom, 9/7)
NBC News: Stress, Anxiety Or Depression May Increase Long Covid Risk: Study
The new study comes with a few limitations. First, many of the people surveyed were employed as health care workers during the early months of the pandemic, so their stress levels might have been higher than that of the general public. If so, the study results could inflate the role of stress in developing long Covid. Second, participants self-reported their Covid cases, since testing wasn’t widely available at the beginning of the study. But the researchers were careful to address a third potential critique, which is that some long Covid symptoms overlap with symptoms of psychological distress, making it difficult to pinpoint their cause. (Bendix, 9/7)
Reuters: Long COVID's Link To Suicide: Scientists Warn Of Hidden Crisis
Scott Taylor never got to move on from COVID-19.The 56-year-old, who caught the disease in spring 2020, still had not recovered about 18 months later when he killed himself at his home near Dallas, having lost his health, memory and money. "No one cares. No one wants to take the time to listen," Taylor wrote in a final text to a friend, speaking of the plight of millions of sufferers of long COVID, a disabling condition that can last for months and years after the initial infection. (Steenhuysen and Rigby, 9/8)
