Study narrows list of 200 Long Covid symptoms down to a core twelve

[thewayne]

Long Covid is closer to being considered an umbrella descriptor to what may be described as any of several different types of causes: autoimmunity, immune system dysregulation, organ injury, viral persistence, and intestinal microbiome imbalances (dysbiosis). A study recently published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, of 9,700 patients, applies weighting to take that list of 200 common symptoms down to twelve.

From the article: "They came to a core list of 12 symptoms and assigned each symptom a score that represented the odds of it being related to COVID-19. The scores for each of the 12 symptoms ranged from 1 to 8, and the researchers added up the symptom points for each person in the trial. Based on the spectrum of score totals seen among uninfected people, the researchers concluded that a score of 12 was a reasonable cutoff for determining if someone had long COVID. And that cutoff was validated when they looked at how it correlated with the participants' reports of quality of life and health."

They are:
Symptoms Score
Loss of smell or taste 8
Post-exertional malaise (feeling tired after minor physical or mental activity) 7
Chronic cough 4
Brain fog 3
Thirst 3
Palpitations 2
Chest pain 2
Fatigue 1
Changes in sexual desire or capacity 1
Dizziness 1
Gastrointestinal symptoms 1
Abnormal movements 1
Hair loss 1


https://arstechnica.com/health/2023/05/long-covid-is-still-a-puzzle-but-scientists-identify-12-core-symptoms/

Comments

[disneydream06]

Interesting list because they could be symptoms of a lot of things as well. :o
Hugs, Jon

[thewayne]

Which is why it needs to be evaluated in terms of a cluster of symptoms to raise the raw score above 12, and the person's physical stage in life needs also to be taken into consideration.  An 80 y/o with several symptoms - not surprising.  A 30 y/o marathoner?  Different story.

[disneydream06]

A LOT of studying needs to be done.
And of course you still have the deniers running around out there. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thewayne]

Unfortunately that's true, my brother among them.  He's not a Covid denier per se, he's a Covid vaccine skeptic.  He read a report from the Salk Institute, misinterpreted it, then reinforced his misinformation.

[disneydream06]

Sorry to hear that. :(
I am finally getting my last/current booster on Thursday.
I was supposed to get it last November, but then caught the virus.

[thewayne]

My last booster was March, which makes my next September, I believe.  Hopefully it will be updated for the new variants by then.

[disneydream06]

I hope they are continuing to work on updating them. :o

[thewayne]

They are.  The boosters that are being configured for the fall are based on three Omicron variants.

[disneydream06]

I should be ready for one about then. :o

[armiphlage]

I shall pass this on to my doctor, it might explain things.

[thewayne]

Worth a shot, and since it's in JAMA, it has research credibility behind it.

[silveradept]

I do like getting some reproducibility to the diagnosis and some weighting. It'll probably be used for terrible purposes, of course, but it's still nice that there's some attempts, at least, to standardize it.

[bibliofile]

I hope they manage to refine it some. As some random doctor on the internet pointed out, "brain fog" is too vague to help.

(ETA: THough yes, part of the point of this list to point more research at the things on the list.)

[fairy69]

I had long COVID for 2 months after the actual virus dissipated. The fatigue was so bad that any effort, even going from one room to another, took all the energy I had. I was zapped after that activity. The only other symptom I had was bad body aches mainly in the backs of my shoulders, neck and back. It was like someone had punched me all over. I drank a lot of water and rested and thankfully it's all gone. I MAY have had a little loss of taste that may still be there...hmm..

[thewayne]

It's a nasty disease and they're still learning more of it, especially the long forms.