I would argue that sleep as a variable is at least as problematic as exercise given the influence of other health conditions like anxiety and depression, as well as lifestyle aspects that may be very hard to change like shift work.
It’s also hard to treat weight as a modifiable variable given that evidence seems pretty consistent on the lack of long term efficacy of lifestyle interventions for weight loss.
this winds up being very judgy about people who often have little control over factors like sleep and weight. also, we all know people who ran marathons and were in perfect health who got Long Covid. Obviously, it's best to try to reduce risk factors, but this can border on or actually go straight into ignoring social determinants of health as well as the wild variance of the immune system genetically which means that some people with horrible health will be just fine and some marathon running physicians will not be, simply due to the characteristics of their immune systems and the particular virus. now i'm off the gym...
I finally took a look at the study: it was done in the pre-omicron era. They defined long covid as 4 weeks of persistent symptoms (?), and only a small subset of the nurses even got covid from 4/20-11/21. Mean age 64.7 and 44% had persistent symptoms at 4 weeks after Covid. They used their self reported healthy lifestyle surveys from 2015 and 2017 to assess the behaviors. 97% white. The healthy lifestyle scores were correlated with less health comorbidities and higher socioeconomic status. Interesting, but I don't think it is generalizable advice. Just my thoughts. They write that the generalizability is limited in the limitations section. I do appreciate the thoughtful comments and responses.
Just getting over a mild case of Covid (My one and only). 1 day of slight fever, 1 day of achy muscles, get-up-and-go gone for a couple of more, all at 80 yrs of age. While Paxlovid was certainly part of the mix I jokingly would tell my partner that it was because I don't wash my fruits and veggies, worry about my hands being dirty before eating after a day of physical work, or adhere to the "5 second rule" if and edible falls on the floor, that I have a robust immune system. While offered as a joke, I wonder how much of it could be true.
Please remember that weight is not a lifestyle or a behavior. Dieting is not healthy behavior for a whole variety of reasons, not the least of it being that many people gain weight because of dieting. Focus on weight loss also contributes to large size people avoiding medical care -- maybe delayed care or fat-bias affected outcomes? It is not feasible that people "lose weight" to prepare for a pandemic. Moving more and adding nutritious food are behaviors the contribute to health but still may not lead to weight loss. https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2018/05/calorie-deprivation
I'm trying to view the study, and I need to log in via a library--I think it's the Nurses' Health study, right? That is self reported and has at times given us information which isn't all that accurate as there are other variables.
I would argue that sleep as a variable is at least as problematic as exercise given the influence of other health conditions like anxiety and depression, as well as lifestyle aspects that may be very hard to change like shift work.
It’s also hard to treat weight as a modifiable variable given that evidence seems pretty consistent on the lack of long term efficacy of lifestyle interventions for weight loss.
this winds up being very judgy about people who often have little control over factors like sleep and weight. also, we all know people who ran marathons and were in perfect health who got Long Covid. Obviously, it's best to try to reduce risk factors, but this can border on or actually go straight into ignoring social determinants of health as well as the wild variance of the immune system genetically which means that some people with horrible health will be just fine and some marathon running physicians will not be, simply due to the characteristics of their immune systems and the particular virus. now i'm off the gym...
I finally took a look at the study: it was done in the pre-omicron era. They defined long covid as 4 weeks of persistent symptoms (?), and only a small subset of the nurses even got covid from 4/20-11/21. Mean age 64.7 and 44% had persistent symptoms at 4 weeks after Covid. They used their self reported healthy lifestyle surveys from 2015 and 2017 to assess the behaviors. 97% white. The healthy lifestyle scores were correlated with less health comorbidities and higher socioeconomic status. Interesting, but I don't think it is generalizable advice. Just my thoughts. They write that the generalizability is limited in the limitations section. I do appreciate the thoughtful comments and responses.
Just getting over a mild case of Covid (My one and only). 1 day of slight fever, 1 day of achy muscles, get-up-and-go gone for a couple of more, all at 80 yrs of age. While Paxlovid was certainly part of the mix I jokingly would tell my partner that it was because I don't wash my fruits and veggies, worry about my hands being dirty before eating after a day of physical work, or adhere to the "5 second rule" if and edible falls on the floor, that I have a robust immune system. While offered as a joke, I wonder how much of it could be true.
Please remember that weight is not a lifestyle or a behavior. Dieting is not healthy behavior for a whole variety of reasons, not the least of it being that many people gain weight because of dieting. Focus on weight loss also contributes to large size people avoiding medical care -- maybe delayed care or fat-bias affected outcomes? It is not feasible that people "lose weight" to prepare for a pandemic. Moving more and adding nutritious food are behaviors the contribute to health but still may not lead to weight loss. https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2018/05/calorie-deprivation
Batting 6 for 6 on👌 JAMA variables was easy for 1 Family member in remission. The 'Weight' variable was not an issue. 👍
Covid Free. Ready for likely annual boost when authorized.
I'm trying to view the study, and I need to log in via a library--I think it's the Nurses' Health study, right? That is self reported and has at times given us information which isn't all that accurate as there are other variables.