Psychological and gastroenterical prevention in “long COVID” syndrome

ABSTRACT

Those who have faced SARS-Cov-2 disease have a 60% higher risk of developing mental disorders within a year of infection. Anxiety, depression and sleep problems are the most frequent. A research published in the British Medical Journal highlights how the risk is greater among those who have had a severe form of the disease, but also emerges among those who have not needed hospitalization. Less than a year after infection, among the healed there is an increase in diagnosis or prescription of drugs for mental disorders equal to 64 cases more per 1,000 people than those who have not contracted the virus. In particular, among those who had become ill there was an increase of 24 cases of sleep disorders per 1,000 people, 15 cases per 1,000 of depressive symptoms, 11 per 1,000 of neurocognitive decline and 4 per 1,000 of substance use disorders (excluding opioids). The gut microbiota has been associated with a plethora of disorders, including some pathologies involving the brain. Recently, a group of researchers found that patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have a different microbial “signature” than healthy people. The findings, published in Science Advances, suggest that patients with depression are characterized by alterations in the gut microbiota, and previous studies have found that depressed people have alterations in the gut microbiota. Proper diet and nutrition in order to replenish the gut microbiome can promote good mental balance and help prevent mental disorders as much as good mental hygiene can help counteract gastrointenstinal disorders.