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According to a new American study, simple lifestyle changes, such as a balanced diet and good sleep, could prevent Covid, in its long form.
Covid-19 is a disease whose signs disappear in most cases in two to three weeks. However, some patients may still experience symptoms four weeks after infection. This is called the long Covid. According to researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (USA), adopting a healthy lifestyle would reduce the risk of having prolonged symptoms of the virus.
A healthy lifestyle reduces the risk of covid long
The study, published in the Journal Jama Internal Medicine, analyzed the health data of more than 32,000 American nurses between April 2020 and November 2021. During this 19-month period, 1,981 of them contracted Covid. Among them, 44% say they have developed a long form of the disease.
The researchers noticed that among the infected nurses, those who had a healthy lifestyle were less likely to develop a long form of Covid. For this, they determined six factors symbolizing a healthy lifestyle: quality food, a body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9, being a non-smoker, sleeping seven to nine hours a night, doing at least 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical exercise and moderate alcohol consumption (between 5 and 15 g per day).
Have a healthy weight and sleep well to avoid the nightmare of long covid
Women who adopted at least five of these six criteria had a 49% lower risk of contracting long Covid, compared to those who did not apply any of these good habits. The researchers add that if all women had adopted five to six criteria, 36% of long Covid cases could have been prevented. Furthermore, among the six factors, those of weight and sleep were the most strongly associated with a lower risk of the long form of the disease.
The results also showed that, even among women who developed long Covid, those who had a healthier lifestyle before infection were 30% less likely to have symptoms that interfered with their daily lives.
Less inflammation and better defenses
“With continued waves of COVID-19, Long COVID has created a serious public health burden. Our findings raise the possibility that adopting healthier behaviors may reduce the risk of developing Long Covid”said Andrea Roberts, lead author of the study, in a Press release.
“The authors noted that one possible explanation for the associations they observed is that, based on previous research, an unhealthy lifestyle is associated with an increased risk of chronic inflammation and immune dysregulation, which have been linked to an increased risk of long Covid”explains the study.