London: Women with Long COVID, a set of symptoms that persist for months beyond the initial phase of a SARS-CoV-2 infection, exhibit more symptoms than males with the syndrome, according to a study. The research, published in the Journal of Women’s Health, found that women were statistically significantly more likely to experience difficulty swallowing, fatigue, chest pain, and palpitations at long-term follow-up compared to men. Long-COVID-syndrome is defined as persistent symptoms extending beyond 12 weeks after the initial symptoms of acute infection.
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The researchers from the University of Parma, and University-Hospital of Parma, Italy, enrolled 223 patients (89 women and 134 men) who were infected by SARS-CoV-2.
They found that 91 per cent of patients, who were followed up for five months on average, continued to experience COVID-19 symptoms.
Breathlessness was the most common symptoms of long COVID-19, followed by fatigue. Females were more symptomatic than males, they said.
Women were significantly more likely than males to report dyspnea, weakness, thoracic pain, palpitations, and sleep disturbance but not myalgia and cough, the researchers said.
Sex was found to be an important determinant of Long-COVID-19 syndrome because it is a significant predictor of persistent symptoms in women, such as dyspnea, fatigue, chest pain, and palpitations. Our results suggest the need for long-term follow-up of these patients from a sex perspective to implement early preventive and personalised therapeutic strategies, they said.
The researchers noted that sex differences have been demonstrated in the acute phase of COVID-19.
Women were found to be less prone to develop a severe disease than men, but few studies have assessed sex-differences in Long-COVID syndrome, they said.
Long-term longitudinal studies are needed to fully understand the sex-related pathophysiology of the symptoms and the effects of pharmacological treatment related to Long COVID-19. These studies will be crucial to understanding the natural trajectory of Long COVID-19 in order to implement targeted treatment strategies and to prevent bias in treating males and females, they added.
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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
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