Lowered Quality of Life in Long COVID Is Predicted by Affective Symptoms, CFS, Inflammation and Neuroimmunotoxic Pathways, 2022, Maes et al

Abstract

The physio-affective phenome of Long COVID-19 is predicted by (a) immune-inflammatory biomarkers of the acute infectious phase, including peak body temperature (PBT) and oxygen saturation (SpO2), and (b) the subsequent activation of immune and oxidative stress pathways during Long COVID. The purpose of this study was to delineate the effects of PBT and SpO2 during acute infection, as well as the increased neurotoxicity on the physical, psychological, social and environmental domains of health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in people with Long COVID.

We recruited 86 participants with Long COVID and 39 normal controls, assessed the WHO-QoL-BREF (World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Abridged Version, Geneva, Switzerland) and the physio-affective phenome of Long COVID (comprising depression, anxiety and fibromyalgia-fatigue rating scales) and measured PBT and SpO2 during acute infection, and neurotoxicity (NT, comprising serum interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-18 and caspase-1, advanced oxidation protein products and myeloperoxidase, calcium and insulin resistance) in Long COVID.

We found that 70.3% of the variance in HR-QoL was explained by the regression on the physio-affective phenome, lowered calcium and increased NT, whilst 61.5% of the variance in the physio-affective phenome was explained by calcium, NT, increased PBT, lowered SpO2, female sex and vaccination with AstraZeneca and Pfizer. The effects of PBT and SpO2 on lowered HR-QoL were mediated by increased NT and lowered calcium yielding increased severity of the physio-affective phenome which largely affects HR-QoL. In conclusion, lowered HR-Qol in Long COVID is largely predicted by the severity of neuro-immune and neuro-oxidative pathways during acute and Long COVID.

Open access, https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/16/10362/htm

 

So by physio-affective they basically mean symptoms. So symptoms are associated with illness, but they decide to call them physio-affective because decades of pseudoscience and quackery are hard to displace.

FF is: chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia using the Fibro-fatigue
BDI is: Beck Depression Inventory-II (obviously asking sick people how they're doing is not valid)
HAMD is: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (seems redundant but whatever)

So obviously BDI and HAMD are about the consequences of illness, not relevant here. Even more so when evaluating QoL, which pretty much overlap. So that leaves chronic illness symptoms "predicting" quality of life. Which, duh.

This is honestly kind of like medicine discovering illness and being baffled by the phenomenon, just can't process the concept. Physio-affective sounds a lot like saying biopsychosocial/psychosomatic without saying it. Don't they love their fashionable labels over there?