YOUR NUTRITION EVIDENCE ALERT
SENT IN COLLABORATION WITH NUTRIENTS
BANT is spearheading the ‘Food for your Health’ campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of personalised nutrition and to educate the public on making healthy food choices to prevent and manage metabolic conditions, including those associated with obesity.
Emerging Research on Long COVID
Emerging evidence and patient testimony suggests that a proportion of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 will experience on-going and long term symptoms, well after the acute infection is over. The NICE guideline scope produced in the latter part of 2020 defines long COVID as symptoms consistent with COVID-19 infection which persist for 12 weeks or longer. The Office for National Statistics using self-reported data estimates that close to 1 million people in the UK are suffering with long COVID.
Symptoms of Long COVID are many and varied. Individuals may be affected with extreme fatigue, brain-fog, shortness of breath, chest pain, joint pain, depression and anxiety, tinnitus and more. A recent publication by the NHS provides the full list of reported symptoms, and includes plans for publicly funded treatment and rehabilitation.
Our Guest Editor this month, Karen Preece-Smith, brings to our attention the latest evidence on Long COVID and nutrition. Given the newness of this condition, there is limited research data, however some interesting reviews are being conducted on the role of nutrition, dietary antioxidants, immune rejuvenation and mitochondrial function. This area of research will be one to watch over the coming months for insights into possible clinical interventions.
In this issue of the Nutrition Evidence Alert the editorial team has selected 49 papers which present the current science in this area. A selection of journal articles indexed by the team are listed below.
The Nutrition Evidence Management Team
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Recommended Blog and Podcasts this month
Scientific American: The Problem of 'Long Haul' Covid, December 2020
The British Medical Journal (BMJ): Long covid: How to define it and how to manage it, 2021
Dr Mark Hyman 'The Doctor's Farmacy': The Functional Medicine Approach To Treating COVID-19 And Post-COVID Syndrome, 2021
From our Guest Editor: Karen Preece Smith
Karen Preece Smith is a registered nutritional therapist mBANT, CNHC, IFM with a special interest in Long COVID, after working within the field of CFS and PVF for several years.
Alongside her own successful online clinic, www.alturum.co.uk, Karen is also a health journalist who regularly contributes to ION nutrition magazine (e.g. the cover story on Long COVID in a recent issue) and other titles. She works as a health expert for Ayurveda tech company, www.besuperfied.com and is a freelance assessment marker for ION.
Karen has 2 children and lives in The Cotswolds.
www.alturum.co.uk or @alturum on Instagram.
These are Karen's top picks of research:
Long COVID: An overview in Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome. 2021
Historical Insight into Infections and Disorders Associated with Neurological and Psychiatric Sequelae Similar to Long COVID in Medical Science Monitor : International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research. 2021
Management of post-acute covid-19 in primary care in The British Medical Journal (BMJ), 2021
COVID-19 and chronic fatigue syndrome: Is the worst yet to come? in Medical Hypotheses. 2021
Role of mitochondria, oxidative stress and the response to antioxidants in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A possible approach to SARS-CoV-2 'long-haulers'? in Chronic Diseases and Translational Medicine. 2021
More Than 50 Long-Term Effects of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis in Research Square. 2021
Feasibility of Vitamin C in the Treatment of Post Viral Fatigue with Focus on Long COVID, Based on a Systematic Review of IV Vitamin C on Fatigue in Nutrients. 2021
The neurological symptoms of COVID-19: a systematic overview of systematic reviews, comparison with other neurological conditions and implications for healthcare services in Therapeutic Advances in Chronic Disease. 2021
The impact of nutrition on COVID-19 susceptibility and long-term consequences in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. 2020
The Long Haul of COVID-19 Recovery: Immune Rejuvenation versus Immune Support in Integrative Medicine. 2020
Ready to start exploring our expanding library of nutrition and lifestyle medicine science?
