Researchers are examining the role of prolonged stress in the occurrence of long-term consequences. Patients wanted to participate in StressLoC.
Most people fully recover from Covid-19 disease following one to two weeks. However, in around ten to 30 percent of those who are sick, some of the symptoms persist for more than four weeks: in this case, experts speak of Long Covid. The Medical University of Graz is investigating the extent to which chronic stress is a risk factor for this condition, which has not yet been researched well. Study participants are wanted.
It can also affect patients who have had a mild course and range from breathing difficulties, chronic fatigue, exhaustion to gastrointestinal complaints: These are the symptoms of Long Covid – the long-term health consequences that are present following acute corona disease can. Many of those affected are so severely affected that they are no longer able to work or provide for their families.
Long Covid risk factors: age, gender, obesity and severe symptoms
“Little is known regarding the causes of Long Covid,” however, was stated in a broadcast by the Medical University of Graz on Monday. “It is assumed that Long Covid can in principle affect anyone. Age, gender, obesity or the number of symptoms during acute Covid 19 disease are discussed as risk factors,” said Christian Fazekas, who headed the new study at the Medical University of Graz.
The “StressLoC” study examines whether chronic stress prior to infection with the coronavirus can lead to various symptoms of the disease persisting over a longer period of time. The Austrian Science Fund FWF supports the project, in which the Wayne State University ( USA), the research company Joanneum Research and the University of Klagenfurt are involved.
Around 600 people who have been infected with SARS-Cov-2 and developed symptoms in the past seven days will be included in the study. Barbara Hanfstingl is involved in the project on behalf of the University of Klagenfurt. The researcher has specialized in the field of stress and resilience. From her point of view, chronic stress puts a strain on the immune system and she therefore wants to investigate this as a possible risk factor for Long Covid: “It is known from infections with other corona viruses and other viral respiratory diseases that chronic stress can lead to longer courses of illness and limited recovery “Hanfstingl noted. The burden of chronic stress is examined psychologically using questionnaires.
Cortisol levels are measured using a hair sample
Hair samples are also taken from the patients: “By measuring the concentration of the stress hormone cortisol in the hair, the physiological stress load in the organism before infection can be analyzed,” says Christian Fazekas from the Graz Department of Medical Psychology, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, describing the process. The course of the disease is observed in the participants over a period of six months. In this way, one wants to determine whether those people who have a higher level of chronic stress before the infection are also more likely to develop persistent Covid 19 disease or Long Covid.
In Long Covid sufferers, the metabolic processes in the blood associated with the body’s stress response will be examined in more detail and compared to those of a non-Long Covid control group.
