Coronavirus COVID-19 - Global Health Pandemic #112

[Gemmie]

Odd... I wonder why the numbers are so high in the US?

86% in US report brain fog, versus 15% in India​

Among long-COVID patients who were not hospitalized during their initial infection (most participants), 86% of those in the United States reported brain fog, compared with 62% in Colombia, 63% in Nigeria, and 15% in India. Symptoms of anxiety or depression were reported by 70% of US participants, compared with roughly 68% in Colombia and less than 20% in Nigeria and India.

Brain fog, depression more common in long COVID in US than in lower-income countries, study suggests

www.cidrap.umn.edu

 

[Stunned]

Odd... I wonder why the numbers are so high in the US?

86% in US report brain fog, versus 15% in India​

Among long-COVID patients who were not hospitalized during their initial infection (most participants), 86% of those in the United States reported brain fog, compared with 62% in Colombia, 63% in Nigeria, and 15% in India. Symptoms of anxiety or depression were reported by 70% of US participants, compared with roughly 68% in Colombia and less than 20% in Nigeria and India.

Brain fog, depression more common in long COVID in US than in lower-income countries, study suggests

www.cidrap.umn.edu

Maybe diet? IMO

 

[Gemmie]

Maybe diet? IMO

That did cross my mind. I think it would be interesting if they surveyed those Americans about their diets. Do they eat healthily or eat a diet full of processed food? How much do they drink and how much do they exercise, etc. That would be pretty interesting to me.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Odd... I wonder why the numbers are so high in the US?

86% in US report brain fog, versus 15% in India​

Among long-COVID patients who were not hospitalized during their initial infection (most participants), 86% of those in the United States reported brain fog, compared with 62% in Colombia, 63% in Nigeria, and 15% in India. Symptoms of anxiety or depression were reported by 70% of US participants, compared with roughly 68% in Colombia and less than 20% in Nigeria and India.

Brain fog, depression more common in long COVID in US than in lower-income countries, study suggests

www.cidrap.umn.edu

My first thought was more ominous. Isn't air pollution extreme in India's cities? I wonder if their population isn't already compromised by that, and the increase in brain fog due to COVID is less apparent.

Of course anything that is self-reported is vulnerable to confirmation bias, people only reporting it if they want to believe it to be true. That's another possibility. I have no idea what Indians generally think about COVID.

It could also go the other way, where in the US people might deny they even have Long Covid unless their symptoms are stronger, thereby leaving out the large chunk of folks who might constitute the Long-Covid-but-no-brain-fog component.

All MOO

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

The article suggested a reason.

Brain fog, depression more common in long COVID in US than in lower-income countries, study suggests

www.cidrap.umn.edu

These disparities likely suggest social and cultural differences in how long COVID is experienced and reported rather than differences in the biology of the virus. They may also reflect differences in access to health care, the authors said.

“It is culturally accepted in the U.S. and Colombia to talk about mental health and cognitive issues, whereas that is not the case in Nigeria and India,” senior author Igor Koralnik, MD, chief of neuro-infectious disease and global neurology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a news release.

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

I think about this frequently when I'm cleaning kitchen counters/bathroom vanities with Lysol (or Clorox) wipes:

Are there certain habits that you've retained since the pandemic? One of ours is definitely always having Lysol or Clorox wipes in the kitchen and bathrooms. Kitchen counters get wiped down multiple times daily, and bathroom vanities/sinks/toilet seats get wiped several times a week, including the guest bathroom that is rarely used. We also wipe phones, remotes, computer keyboards/mouse, door handles regularly. We get a multi-pack of wipes every time we go to Costco. Sometimes they're on sale, sometimes not, but we always have multiple cartons in the house.

We also make sure that we have necessary staples in the pantry and refrigerator. During the pandemic, this helped limit contact with those who might be sick, and now, it limits trips to stores.

I know some here still wear masks. We don't wear them but have masks in our cars, and I always have one in my purse. Except for a Tiger ballgame last summer and a matinee movie in a theatre with only 10 guests, we have avoided crowded events. We always get flu shots in the fall and will get Covid boosters as long as they are offered.

 

[gremlin444]

I think about this frequently when I'm cleaning kitchen counters/bathroom vanities with Lysol (or Clorox) wipes:

Are there certain habits that you've retained since the pandemic? One of ours is definitely always having Lysol or Clorox wipes in the kitchen and bathrooms. Kitchen counters get wiped down multiple times daily, and bathroom vanities/sinks/toilet seats get wiped several times a week, including the guest bathroom that is rarely used. We also wipe phones, remotes, computer keyboards/mouse, door handles regularly. We get a multi-pack of wipes every time we go to Costco. Sometimes they're on sale, sometimes not, but we always have multiple cartons in the house.

We also make sure that we have necessary staples in the pantry and refrigerator. During the pandemic, this helped limit contact with those who might be sick, and now, it limits trips to stores.

I know some here still wear masks. We don't wear them but have masks in our cars, and I always have one in my purse. Except for a Tiger ballgame last summer and a matinee movie in a theatre with only 10 guests, we have avoided crowded events. We always get flu shots in the fall and will get Covid boosters as long as they are offered.

We all mask in public. Even the 18 yo. Period. Two of us have long Covid and a third member of the house has another health condition that make him more likely to end up with long Covid if he gets infected. Extra masks in all vehicles and bags.

Hand sanitizer in the car in the cup holder so that the minute you get in the car after going in a business/school/etc, you can clean your hands.

Still order a large chunk of our groceries from a store for pick up to 1) minimize length of time spent in grocery stores and 2) to make it easier for me to (with long Covid and now a host of other delightful autoimmune disorders as a result) do the grocery shopping with reduced pain/exhaustion if my husband isn't able to go do it because of work.

Always keep covid tests in the house as well as Corsi-Rosenthal boxes for air filtration if someone gets it.

All of those things have been second nature to my family for years. None of them have been very hard for us to maintain.

What I do miss.....is going to a restaurant and eating there. Not take out to bring home or eat in a park or the parking lot--but just carefree going into a place and eating there. *sigh* Since one of us got Covid twice while eating in public (school, didn't have a better alternative available), it's not something we are willing to risk. I miss the popularity of all the creative solutions restaurants had during Covid--individual igloos, individual heated shacks, etc. In addition to reducing transmission, it meant we could easily hear each other talk (two of us have some hearing loss and brain fog that makes it hard at times to follow a conversation with lots of background noise).

My 18 yo missed almost 2 years of high school thanks to Covid and long Covid health/mental health issues. It was a huge struggle to get him to graduation and a huge achievement given all the setbacks. Now he's in his second semester of community college in a program that he loves (living at home), and as a family we all feel it is part of our job to not take risks ourselves that could lead to getting him sick and messing up his education.

It may seem like a sacrifice, but after all the added medical costs incurred from two of us having long Covid and the missed opportunities, etc. we don't see it as that. Not when all of us have seen the very direct effects in areas both big and small. 18 yo gets sick--ends up with 4 months of severe daily headaches and nausea leading to endless missed school and severe mental health impacts. I get sick with anything now--joints flare up so badly I can't drive or cook or do laundry because of the pain and stiffness in my hands and feet (which was not present until I got Covid).

It is what it is.