Women who practice many aspects of a healthy lifestyle are about half as likely as peers who don’t to experience persistent symptoms after a COVID-19 infection (“long COVID”), a new study suggests.
The Harvard-led study, published online Feb. 6, 2023, by JAMA Internal Medicine, analyzed data from more than 32,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study II. They reported information about their lifestyle in 2015 and 2017 as well as their COVID-19 status from April 2020 through November 2021. More than 1,900 participants were infected with the virus during that time, and 44% of those developed long COVID, with symptoms persisting beyond four weeks after the initial infection.
Women who practiced five or six of a list of healthy lifestyle habits — including weight control, not smoking, regular exercise, adequate sleep, high-quality diet, and moderate alcohol consumption — were 49% less likely to develop long COVID compared with women who practiced none. Of the six lifestyle factors, healthy body weight and adequate sleep (defined as seven to nine hours nightly) were most strongly linked with lower risk.
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