The below lifestyle may reduce the risk of long COVID
A recent study from Harvard Chan School of Public Health has found that adopting healthy behaviors may lower the risk of developing long COVID. Long COVID is defined as having COVID-19 symptoms four weeks or more after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, and it affects an estimated 8-23 million Americans. The researchers analyzed data from over 32,000 female nurses in the Nurses’ Health Study II, who reported their lifestyles and history of SARS-CoV-2 infection from April 2020 to November 2021.
During this time, 44% of the participants who contracted COVID-19 developed long COVID. However, those who had five or six healthy lifestyle factors, including maintaining a healthy body weight and getting adequate sleep, had 49% lower risk of developing long COVID. The study also showed that those with a healthier pre-infection lifestyle had 30% lower risk of having symptoms that interfered with their daily life, even among those who developed long COVID.
The study’s authors believe that an unhealthy lifestyle may be linked to increased risk of chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation, which have been linked to increased risk of long COVID. Lead author, Siwen Wang, emphasizes the importance of simple lifestyle changes, such as adequate sleep, for the prevention of long COVID.
The study was supported by several grants from the NIH, the Dean’s Fund for Scientific Advancement Acceleration Award from Harvard Chan School, and the Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness Evergrande COVID-19 Response Fund Award.