Study Suggests Long Covid Has a Greater Disability Burden than Cancer
A recent study published in Nature Medicine has claimed that long Covid may have a greater disability burden than cancer. However, doctors have criticized the study, stating that the comparison is “irresponsible.” The research, like previous studies, found that long Covid increases the risk of various complications such as heart problems, blood clots, diabetes, memory problems, fatigue, and mental health issues.
In the study, the researchers calculated the number of days that long Covid patients experienced debilitating symptoms and compared it to the number of days that individuals with cancer and heart disease typically experienced symptoms. They concluded that long Covid causes a “greater burden of disability” than either of these chronic conditions.
However, doctors not involved in the research have criticized the study, stating that it had several significant shortcomings that could have skewed the results. They argue that focusing on long Covid at the expense of other conditions that affect a larger number of Americans, such as obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure, may be misguided.
Long Covid is a condition characterized by a wide range of symptoms, including shortness of breath, brain fog, fatigue, and depression, which can persist for weeks or even years after recovering from the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in 13 American adults, equivalent to more than 16.5 million people, have long Covid.
The study, conducted by researchers from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, analyzed the medical records of 140,000 veterans who had survived Covid and later developed long Covid symptoms. They compared their health to six million other veterans who had not been infected with Covid. The researchers found that long Covid caused 80 years of disability per 1,000 veterans, compared to 52 years for heart disease and 50 years for cancer.
Some experts argue that comparing long Covid to cancer is irresponsible, as cancer encompasses various diseases with different levels of severity. Furthermore, the study only focused on a specific population, veterans, who are already predisposed to physical and mental health issues, potentially invalidating the generalizability of the results.
Additionally, the study only examined Covid cases in 2020, before vaccines and therapies were widely available, and before new strains of the virus emerged. This means that the severity and impact of long Covid may be different now.
The true scale and severity of long Covid are still under debate, with some studies suggesting that individuals who develop the condition may have experienced similar symptoms regardless of Covid infection. The CDC reported that over 3,500 Americans died from long Covid-related conditions in the first two and a half years of the pandemic, with a significant portion of those deaths occurring in adults aged 75 to 84 years.
It is important to note that while the study suggests a higher disability burden for long Covid compared to cancer, the criticisms from doctors highlight the need for further research and a comprehensive understanding of the condition’s impact on public health.