WEBVTT - Psychological Issues Such as Depression and Anxiety May Affect Long COVID

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<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday, September eight. I'm Oscar Ramrrors from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>As overall pandemic worries continue to fade, one of the

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<v Speaker 1>biggest curiosities continues to be long COVID, what causes it

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<v Speaker 1>and who is the most susceptible. A new study says

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<v Speaker 1>that psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, and loneliness could

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<v Speaker 1>be better predictors than physical ailments. To be clear, it's

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<v Speaker 1>not a causal relationship, but there is an association. Sue

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<v Speaker 1>and Wang, research fellow at Harvard and lead author of

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<v Speaker 1>the study, joins us for What to Know. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us, you Wan, thank you. It's my owner to

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<v Speaker 1>be here. Well, let's talk about long COVID right now.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, in a lot of ways, we've seen the

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<v Speaker 1>pandemic subside. Many have been infected, many have had their

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<v Speaker 1>vaccines and booster shots. But a big curiosity that still

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<v Speaker 1>remains in all of this is long COVID. You know.

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<v Speaker 1>So these are people that have been infected with COVID

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<v Speaker 1>and then the symptoms remain for sometimes months after even

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<v Speaker 1>they might be testing negative. And one of the big

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<v Speaker 1>things that we don't know is why exactly it happens

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<v Speaker 1>and who might be more susceptible. You know, a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of people have said if you're a compromise or have hypertension,

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<v Speaker 1>different physical things you know, could increase your risk for

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<v Speaker 1>long COVID. But this new study, so when that you

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<v Speaker 1>were working on, shows that some psychological stressors are also

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<v Speaker 1>indicators of a more likelihood of this. So depression, anxiety, loneliness,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of times these are predictors of experiencing long COVID.

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<v Speaker 1>So tell us a little bit more about the study,

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<v Speaker 1>So Win, thank you for the introduction of our research

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<v Speaker 1>and thank you for interest in our research. So briefly,

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<v Speaker 1>what we did was from early in the pandemic, we

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<v Speaker 1>followed more than fifty four thousand people for a year.

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<v Speaker 1>Over that year, more than three thousand contracted COVID nineteen,

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<v Speaker 1>so we also about your COVID symptoms and how long

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<v Speaker 1>they lost it. We found that psychological distress prior to infection,

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<v Speaker 1>including depression, anxiety, worry, perceived stress, and loneliness, were significantly

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<v Speaker 1>associated with increased risk of long COVID. These was not

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<v Speaker 1>explained by health behaviors such as smoking, or by physical

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<v Speaker 1>health conditions like asthma. And interestingly, what we found is

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<v Speaker 1>that these psychological conditions are even stronger predictors for long

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<v Speaker 1>COVID as compared to those physical conditions you just mentioned

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<v Speaker 1>like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity in our cohort. Finally, among

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<v Speaker 1>those who developed long COVID, we found that people with

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<v Speaker 1>higher psychological distress before getting COVID were also had higher

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<v Speaker 1>risk of getting daily life impyramid due to long COVID,

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<v Speaker 1>and they report more symptoms of long COVID. Yeah, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of interesting stuff in here. I mean, if

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<v Speaker 1>people had reported two or more types of these distressors,

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<v Speaker 1>it increased their risk by that's how much it could

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<v Speaker 1>have increased it. So they're just more susceptible to all

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<v Speaker 1>that stuff. And to be clear, having stress and anxiety

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<v Speaker 1>and depressionalities doesn't necessarily mean it's going to cause long COVID.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, it's not a causal effect per se, but

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<v Speaker 1>there is an association about having a lot of these

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<v Speaker 1>stressors in your life. So what we did was an

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<v Speaker 1>observation study, so we can not say it's causal. But

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<v Speaker 1>after you try to account for those demographic factors like age, stacks, raise, ethnicity,

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<v Speaker 1>and also those physical conditions. We try to disentangled effect

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<v Speaker 1>whether these psychological conditions are more strongly predictors than those

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<v Speaker 1>physical conditions. Now, a lot of times when we're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about long COVID, as I mentioned, you know, these are

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<v Speaker 1>prolonged symptoms after having COVID, A lot of times people

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<v Speaker 1>say they they experienced, you know, the brain fog, being

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<v Speaker 1>very lethargic, just being super tired, and a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>people will say, well, a lot of they're just kind

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<v Speaker 1>of carrying this in their head. It's just a psychological

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<v Speaker 1>thing for them. And to be clear again that that's

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<v Speaker 1>not what the study is showing as well. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not that it's all in your head. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>purely psychological thing. There are some physical symptoms that do

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<v Speaker 1>persist as well. But just because you've had some of

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<v Speaker 1>these symptoms before, it does not mean it's just a

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<v Speaker 1>purely psychological phenomen on exactly. So our results should not

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<v Speaker 1>be misintegrated as supporting the have of hypothesis that it's

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<v Speaker 1>all in our heads. First of all, among those who

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<v Speaker 1>develop long COVID, around half of them did not have

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<v Speaker 1>any psychological distress at baseline, and most importantly, when we

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<v Speaker 1>excluded people who only reported fatigue had it those kind

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<v Speaker 1>of psychological and neurological symptoms as their long COVID symptoms,

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<v Speaker 1>the results were almost identical. Yeah, I mean, I know

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<v Speaker 1>that all of this just really makes more of a

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<v Speaker 1>call for giving more people access obviously to mental health care.

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<v Speaker 1>We saw people go throughout the pandemic and really suffer

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<v Speaker 1>a lot, their mental health suffered a lot, and again,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, just having these things before could make this

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<v Speaker 1>very novel virus. You know, treating our bodies in a

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<v Speaker 1>crazy different way than they've ever felt before could also

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<v Speaker 1>exacerbate some of those things. So I know that's been

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<v Speaker 1>one of the calls as well, is to pay more

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<v Speaker 1>attention to it and have better accessibility for mental health. Yes, exactly,

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<v Speaker 1>especially with our findings that these are even stronger predictors

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<v Speaker 1>than those well established risk factors of those physical conditions.

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<v Speaker 1>We definitely need to understand that mental health conditions and

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<v Speaker 1>physical well being are so strongly interconnected, and we need

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<v Speaker 1>to make cure accessible and improve the qualitative care for

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<v Speaker 1>those who need it. Well, we'll keep an eye out

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<v Speaker 1>for more research that comes down the line on long COVID.

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<v Speaker 1>As I mentioned, it's kind of one of those big

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<v Speaker 1>curiosities still and very tough to uh see what it's

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<v Speaker 1>going to happen beforehand, and then also difficulty in treating that.

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<v Speaker 1>So we'll keep an eye out for all of that.

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<v Speaker 1>Sue and Wang, research fellow at Harvard and lead author

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<v Speaker 1>of this latest study on long COVID. Thank you very

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<v Speaker 1>much for joining us. Thank you for having me. Have

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<v Speaker 1>a good one. I'm Oscar Ramrors and this has been

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<v Speaker 1>reopening America. Don't forget effort today's big news stories. You

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<v Speaker 1>can check me out on the Daily Dive podcast every

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