Clinical characteristics with inflammation profiling of long COVID and association with 1-year recovery following hospitalisation in the UK: a prospective observational study

Long COVID: systemic inflammation and obesity as therapeutic targets

“…The PHOSP-COVID Collaborative Group 2 also found that female sex and obesity are factors associated with more severe physical and mental health impairments 1 year after hospital discharge. These results are consistent with previous reports in the medical literature that obesity and female sex are risk factors for long COVID.…”

“… 1 Identification and understanding of modifiable determinants associated with manifestations of long COVID would help in the adaptation of treatment pathways for particular phenotypes. 1 In The Lancet Respiratory Medicine , the PHOSP-COVID Collaborative Group 2 report the latest results from the UK-based, multicentre, prospective Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 (PHOSP-COVID) study, in which the investigators identified systemic inflammation and obesity as factors that might be associated with long COVID, representing potentially treatable traits in people with more severe post-COVID-19 symptoms. In the current report, the PHOSP-COVID Collaborative Group found increased levels of several biomarkers related to systemic inflammation and lung damage in individuals with more severe physical and mental health impairments 1 year after hospital discharge.…”

“… 6 , 7 , 8 However, The PHOSP-COVID Collaborative Group's findings add to the evidence base by confirming these associations in a large cohort with long-term follow-up. 2 The association between obesity and severe long COVID might be expected because the multisystemic changes (ie, hormonal, metabolic, and a pro-inflammatory state) associated with obesity 9 could promote the maintenance of a systemic inflammation. Therefore, management of patients with long COVID should include the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits (eg, nutrition habits and exercise) to reduce the impact of obesity.…”

“…All these therapeutic considerations should be applied from a sex-based perspective, since female sex is a non-modifiable risk factor associated with severe long COVID. 2 For example, the use of anti-inflammatory agents and exercise programmes might be applied differently in males and females. Biological (eg, hormones, sex differences in ACE2 and transmembrane protease serine 2 receptors), social (different health-care requirements and treatment perceptions), and emotional (beliefs, previous experience, and fear) differences according to sex and gender must be considered in future studies investigating the management of long COVID.…”

Covid-19: Only a quarter of patients admitted to hospital feel fully recovered after a year, study finds

“…Only around one in four people who had covid-19 reported feeling fully recovered within a year of being discharged from hospital, a study has found 1…”