The cortisol “stress hormone” may be at the center of the mystery that is the “long Covid,” the surprising phenomenon in which a person shows virus symptoms for months after recovering.
Researchers at Yale University found that people with a case of what could be considered “long-term Covid” produce about half the cortisol of their healthy peers.
The definitive link between cortisol and long-term Covid has yet to be found, but Yale’s findings may open the door to the explanation of a new hypothesis for the cause of the mysterious disease.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about 8% of American adults suffer from some form of long-term Covid.
Researchers found that long-term Covid patients had about half as much cortisol in their blood as those who recovered from the virus without long-term problems (archive photo)
Due to the massive underreporting of cases since the Omicron variant emerged last year, it’s nearly impossible to say what a person’s chances of developing it after a Covid infection are.
The researchers, whose results were presented online before print and awaiting peer review, collected data from 215 individuals.
Of this group, 99 had a long-term case of Covid, 40 had no COVID-19 infection, the remaining 76 recovered from the virus without long-term complications.
The most common symptoms of long-term Covid patients were brain fog, fatigue and nervous system problems.
They took blood samples from each participant and measured the cortisol levels found.
Cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone. It is activated in the adrenal glands similar to the kidneys and spreads throughout the body.
When enough hormones are detected in a person’s bloodstream, the brain enters a state of maximum alertness, triggering the sensation we know as “stress.”
Low cortisol levels have been associated with chronic fatigue syndrome and other similar conditions in the past. Fatigue is also one of the most important long-term symptoms of Covid.
The Yale research team noted that some long-term Covid patients treated by increasing cortisol levels showed some improvement.
However, this is only the beginning of the research. Now that cortisol levels are linked to long-term Covid, how exactly to treat this and what is the next step in developing treatments and finding the mechanism that causes a hormone problem?
Source: Daily Mail
I am Anne Johnson and I work as an author at the Fashion Vibes. My main area of expertise is beauty related news, but I also have experience in covering other types of stories like entertainment, lifestyle, and health topics. With my years of experience in writing for various publications, I have built strong relationships with many industry insiders. My passion for journalism has enabled me to stay on top of the latest trends and changes in the world of beauty.
