A 23andMe study attempts to reveal who is at the most risk for long COVID

[jlw]

Originally published at: A 23andMe study attempts to reveal who is at the most risk for long COVID | Boing Boing

…

[Otherbrother]

@jlw

The survey, which was voluntary and relied on people self-reporting symptoms, had several major findings, including that women were far more likely to experience long-term symptoms, as were people with a prior diagnosis of depression or anxiety.

Interesting. This recent study conducted by the NIH also concluded that women and people with a history of anxiety were at highest risk:

https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M21-4905

Of the potential pre–COVID-19 risk factors shown in panel A of Figure 1, only female gender (OR, 2.34 [CI, 1.25 to 4.41]; P = 0.005; adjusted P = 0.033) and self-reported history of anxiety disorder (OR, 2.78 [CI, 1.35 to 5.98]; P = 0.003; adjusted P = 0.027) were significantly associated with increased risk for PASC.

[jlw]

I have a good friend who has had COVID twice and suffered long COVID for most of the last two years. It is no joke and took a very active super strong woman and left her unable to walk her dogs. I fear long COVID.

[Otherbrother]

@jlw

It is no joke

For sure. So it’s really important to find the root causes and risk factors. The fact that two studies conducted separately landed on the same risk factors should hopefully help us find a way to protect folks at highest risk.

[Mister44]

I don’t even think I should DNA test my dogs. Who knows what government agency will come kidnap them for their super intelligence.

@jlw

I fear long COVID.

I mean, that is one reason I am still masking. I think given my vaccination status, and that the current strains are fairly weak, I would most likely survive just fine if I caught it. But the brain fog for some people is very real. Is there data on how well the vaccines protect against long Covid effects?

Anecdotal data, my nephew who is now 17 had it. He run times for cross country are slower than the year before he had it. Maybe he is slacking off, but likely his lungs are having a lasting negative effect. Haven’t heard of him complain about a brain fog though.

[jlw]

@Mister44

I mean, that is one reason I am still masking. I think given my vaccination status, and that the current strains are fairly weak, I would most likely survive just fine if I caught it. But the brain fog for some people is very real. Is there data on how well the vaccines protect against long Covid effects?

I am 50 and 4x vaccinated but long COVID alone keeps me masking up with quality filtering masks. Friends who are as vaccinated and have had COVID keep getting it and our risk models aren’t much different.

[Otherbrother]

@Mister44

Is there data on how well the vaccines protect against long Covid effects?

Studies seem to indicate that vaccination helps, but is definitely not a guarantee against long covid:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01840-0

The exact clinical definition of “long covid” is still a work in progress but this study was looking at a list of different health issues associated with the condition, and for most of those someone who was vaccinated before the infection was about 80% as likely as someone who wasn’t to be experiencing the issues:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01840-0/figures/3

[Mister44]

Yes, depending what I am doing, I will use a good N95 mask (I prefer the cup like 3M ones), with a cloth mask for looks if I am going to be inside for a long time with people. Like at ComicCon, for example.

If it I am doing a short run into a store or to pick up food, I usually cloth mask it.

Trying to judge my risk exposure and adjust accordingly. My GF is anxious about it, so she helps keep me honest.

Knock on wood - thus far I have avoided it (AFAIK).

@Otherbrother

Studies seem to indicate that vaccination helps, but is definitely not a guarantee against long covid:

Thanks.

[Franko]

i caught COVID in July 2020, so before the vaccines were available. luckily, i got a mild case, but it was still scary as shit even if i didn’t have to go to the hospital. i ended up losing my sense of taste and smell for 6 months or so, so i think that qualifies as a Long COVID case. I am a 23 and Me customer, and i’ve been submitting info about my experiences with COVID, but i’m not sure i’m part of this particular study or not. i just hope it helps someone.

[anothernewbbaccount]

Tiny variants in genes may dictate severity of coronavirus

[Flossaluzitarin]

…paint the extremely strong woman on the mask scrim tho, right?

eta: This is all quite at odds with emerging cell-SEQ medicine, which sequences partial or whole genomes cell by cell to see what MFs that make us up are even thinking of misfolding a thing or putting a hale nuance on (putting it in random online repositories for second guessing optional!)

[lizard-of-oz]

quote=“jlw, post:1, topic:222452”]
The survey, which was voluntary and relied on people self-reporting symptoms, had several major findings
[/quote]

I’d take that with a huge grain of salt. In November 2021 a French study of around 26k cases found that people were self-reported long covid symptoms even when they only believed they had a covid infection.

persistent physical symptoms after COVID-19 infection should not be automatically ascribed to SARS-CoV-2; a complete medical evaluation may be needed to prevent erroneously attributing symptoms to the virus.

That does not imply that all the symptoms reported are necessarily psychosomatic: most other infections (not just covid) can lead to symptoms that persist alter the infection is gone, covid is in that regard not exceptional. What’s more, also the anxiety, the lack of exercise and social contact that comes with lockdowns and self-isolation can lead to the kinds of physical symptoms that are associated with long-covid.

Therefore a different study design is required to bring more solid results about who is at risk of „actual“ long-covid, such as the one quoted by @Otherbrother where only participants with a proven infection are included, and then compared with a control group. The 23andme study has neither.

Here‘s the French study:

Association of Self-reported COVID-19 Infection and SARS-CoV-2 Serology...