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Women ages 50 to 60 are at higher risk of developing “long-term Covid,” the analysis suggests. Old age and experiencing five or more symptoms during the first week of the illness were also linked to an increased risk of lasting health problems.
The study, led by Dr. Claire Steves and King’s College London Professor Tim Spector, analyzed data from 4,182 users of the COVID Symptom Study app who had been constantly tracking their health and had tested positive for the virus.
In general, women were twice as likely to suffer from Covid symptoms lasting more than a month compared to men, but only until around the age of 60, when their risk level became more similar.
Increasing age was also associated with an increased risk of prolonged Covid, with about 22% of people older than 70 years suffering for four weeks or more, compared to 10% of people between 18 and 49 years old. .
For women in the 50-60 age group, these two risk factors seemed to combine – they were eight times more likely to experience long-lasting Covid-19 symptoms compared to those 18-30. However, the biggest difference between men and women was seen between those in their 40s and 50s, where women’s risk of developing prolonged Covid was twice that of men.
“This is a similar pattern to what is seen in autoimmune diseases,” Spector said. “Things like rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, and lupus are two to three times more common in women until just before menopause, and then they become more similar.” Their guess is that gender differences in the way the immune system responds to coronavirus may explain this difference.
The study, which was published preprint and has not yet been peer-reviewed, also found that experiencing five or more symptoms during the first week of Covid-19 development was associated with an increased risk of long-lasting health problems.
Here too, differences in immune response may be involved: “Certainly there is a group of Covid patients for a long time who have this multisystem disease similar to the immune system, where they have gastrointestinal problems, skin rashes, nervous problems and mental confusion, the body he’s involved rather than just a little bit, ”Spector said. The immune system is probably working differently in these people, which can manifest as symptoms in multiple body systems that are experienced from the first week.
Other factors that the study associated with an increased risk of developing long-lasting Covid-19 symptoms included being overweight or asthma.
