[HN Gopher] Could long Covid be linked to herpes viruses? Early ...
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       Could long Covid be linked to herpes viruses? Early data offer a
       hint
        
       Author : nope96
       Score  : 36 points
       Date   : 2022-08-28 20:38 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
        
       | FollowingTheDao wrote:
       | Any infection you have will deplete one nutrient or another, and
       | if you have a genetic susceptibility, this depletion might be
       | much greater than someone else. To correct these nutrition
       | depletion to keep these viruses in check, you will need to take
       | mega doses of the supplement for a short period.
       | 
       | If you are still one of these people that think zinc does not
       | play a role in COVID outcomes I have nothing left to say but: By
       | destroying the ACE2 receptor, SARS2 causes a depletion of zinc
       | since zinc makes up the structure of ACE2 and prevents the
       | recycling of zinc in the cell.
       | 
       | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S120197122...
       | 
       | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18880-0
       | 
       | And hey and guess what. They find that people with zinc
       | deficiency have more herpes out breaks!
       | 
       | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3283972/
       | 
       | Why? Because the same thing happens with herpes but with NECTIN1
       | receptor and ADAM10. Low zinc means less ADAM10 activity and more
       | NECTIN1 on the cell and therefor more herepes virus replication.
       | 
       | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2906284/
       | 
       | So what might be happening with the low cortisol they speak of in
       | the study?
       | 
       | ACE2 is all over the adrenal gland, and when ACE2 is destroyed
       | the adrenal gland shuts down and cannot release as much cortisol.
       | 
       | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2020.5931...
       | 
       | Now, many of you will come back as show me all the studies that
       | reveal that zinc actually reduces cortisol. And I agree, but do
       | you know why? When someone is not zinc deficiency, adding more
       | zinc will trigger ADAM17 to cleave ACE2 off the cell and create
       | Soluble ACE2. Zinc the ACE2 is not on the adrenal gland anymore
       | cortisol will not be released.
       | 
       | https://www.mdpi.com/viruses/viruses-12-00491/article_deploy...
       | 
       | But in a zinc deficient state there is not enough ACE2 to start
       | with and ADAM17 activity is also low. By taking zinc and
       | correcting the deficiency you will increase activity for both
       | ACE2 and ADAM17.
       | 
       | If you know someone or if you have long covid, I highly suggest
       | that you at least get your serum zinc levels tested.
        
       | DoreenMichele wrote:
       | It's probably related to Zinc deficiency caused by covid.
       | 
       | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3897803/#:~:text=Zinc%20ions....
       | 
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22845574
        
         | FollowingTheDao wrote:
         | Yes, have you seen my comment?
        
           | DoreenMichele wrote:
           | This one?
           | 
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32632583
           | 
           | The parts I understand make sense. I'm not familiar with some
           | of the things you talk about.
        
       | mentalpiracy wrote:
       | Just to add anecdata: both myself and partner got our booster in
       | early december 2021. Right before christmas, my partner came down
       | with covid. I didn't bother to isolate from her because it would
       | have been ineffective given our living space.
       | 
       | I never came down with symptoms myself - but 3 weeks later, I
       | developed shingles, aka herpes zoster. Do not recommend the
       | experience.
        
         | swatcoder wrote:
         | Shingles outbreaks are increasingly common for those of us too
         | old to have gotten the chickenpox vaccine but still too young
         | to receive the shingles vaccine.
         | 
         | It's miserable, and maybe your case was indeed triggered by
         | some immune system modulation at the time, but plenty of us
         | were having it sneak up on us in the years before too. I
         | wouldn't think too much of it as covid-related, _per se_.
        
       | PaulKeeble wrote:
       | They have been asking the same question about ME/CFS for decades.
       | Either Herpes or Epstein Barr Virus, both of which often get
       | reactivated after certain infections. So far anti virals that
       | work against Herpes and EBV haven't done much to aid sufferers so
       | if they are responsible no known treatments help most people.
        
       | MontyCarloHall wrote:
       | > It is common -- affecting anywhere from 5% to 50% of people who
       | contract COVID-19
       | 
       | Studies that claim these prevalences either suffer from massive
       | selection bias (e.g. only use COVID cases that were severe enough
       | to end up in health records [0]) or consider even minor symptoms
       | lasting more than a few weeks (like a persistent cough) as "long
       | COVID."
       | 
       | Upwards of 80% of the US had been infected with COVID as of June
       | 2022 [1]. If serious long-COVID symptoms indeed occurred in 5-50%
       | of COVID cases, that would mean 4-40% of Americans are currently
       | suffering from debilitating long-term illness, which would be
       | obvious on a societal level. We simply do not see this [2].
       | 
       | Do severe long term COVID cases exist? Absolutely, as is the case
       | with other infections, like influenza [3]. But they are nowhere
       | near as prevalent as otherwise reputable publications claim.
       | 
       | [0] https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/05/more-
       | than-1-in-5-cov...
       | 
       | [1]
       | https://www.healthdata.org/sites/default/files/files/Project...
       | 
       | [2] https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/06/long-
       | covi...
       | 
       | [3] https://www.bbc.com/news/health-58726775.amp
        
       | bamboozled wrote:
       | Does "long Covid" actually exist, can one get a blood test, scan
       | or something like that done to have it diagnosed?
        
         | Isinlor wrote:
         | Yes, there are clear biological markers related to reported
         | symptoms of Long COVID.
         | 
         | Increases in exhausted immune T cells and lower levels of
         | cortisol.
         | 
         | Also, patient reported outcomes alone are sufficient to
         | identify Long COVID patients with ~90% accuracy.
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/VirusesImmunity/status/15573941922251571...
         | 
         | https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.08.09.22278592v...
        
         | SoftTalker wrote:
        
           | vermooten wrote:
           | Do you have any data to back this opinion up?
        
             | MontyCarloHall wrote:
             | Belief in having had COVID is more strongly associated with
             | long COVID symptoms than actually having had COVID, as
             | confirmed by antibody tests:
             | https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-
             | abstract/27877...
        
               | FollowingTheDao wrote:
               | Does the vaccine cause long COVID in some people?
               | 
               | Does people faking having long covid mean that no one has
               | long COVID?
               | 
               | Can people have these symptoms from another disorder like
               | ME/CFS for EBV infection?
        
           | FollowingTheDao wrote:
           | That's what people say about my mental illness as well.
           | 
           | Also, In March I went into a bad psychosis, came out of it
           | with Klonopin. The next day I did not feel well, took my temp
           | that night; 99. Next day test COVID positive. Today my
           | previous poor fatigue is even worse and my mood has been more
           | unstable than ever.
           | 
           | I do not thing that me wanting to kill myself after walking a
           | mile is something you all experience from time to time so
           | shhhhhhhh.....
        
           | squidsoup wrote:
           | Long covid, like ME/CFS and fibromyalgia, is not well
           | understood - that does not mean that it does not exist, and
           | suggesting that it does not is hurtful to the millions of
           | people currently suffering with the condition.
        
             | staticassertion wrote:
             | I don't think that suggesting that a possible affliction X
             | is actually psychological or caused by something else is
             | inherently harmful. It could just as easily lead to people
             | getting the right treatment.
        
         | qbasic_forever wrote:
         | The federal reserve believes it exists and is a big enough
         | threat to the labor force (and economy) of the nation that we
         | need take action. They released this paper a few weeks ago:
         | https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/long...
         | 
         | It seems pretty serious and real when the real money and power
         | institutions in the country are getting concerned.
        
       | pessimizer wrote:
       | Covid reactivated my cold sores. I usually get one every year or
       | two, can feel it when it's about to happen, and Abreva
       | (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1-Docosanol) kills it before it
       | even breaks the skin.
       | 
       | During covid I got a vicious one on my lip like I've never had
       | before and that Abreva had no effect on, and another awful one
       | _in my nose_ which has never happened before. Almost the only bad
       | effect of covid that lasted longer than the first day.
       | 
       | Can covid damage some immune subsystem that usually suppresses
       | herpes?
        
         | FollowingTheDao wrote:
         | COVID infection causes nutrient deficiencies that weaken the
         | immune response, yes. Zinc, B6, and few others maybe like
         | selenium.
        
         | thewizardofaus wrote:
         | Doesn't the herpes virus generally reactivate when the immune
         | system is being run down?
         | 
         | I know there is literature to suggest that Cold Sore outbreaks
         | in an individual generally occur during cold and flu outbreaks.
        
           | fotta wrote:
           | My cold sores will break out after any sort of physical
           | stress (excluding exercise). Ironically I get them most often
           | after heat exhaustion.
        
           | pessimizer wrote:
           | I'm pretty sure that's why they're called cold sores, and
           | I've had them happen during flus before, although not during
           | the vast majority of them. Nevertheless, I haven't ever had a
           | situation like I got with covid, and the actual covid
           | symptoms were minor (after the first day, which was a weird
           | intense generalized weakness that eventually went away.)
           | 
           | Covid is a cold, anyway. A strong, strange cold.
        
         | i_have_an_idea wrote:
         | As a long-time cold sore host, I have figured out several
         | things that are true:
         | 
         | 1) Generally _any_ viral infection that runs down my immune
         | system can create a cold sore. A flu, a bad cold or covid.
         | 
         | 2) Sometimes just stress and/or being sleep deprived will do
         | it, but there usually needs to be at least 3-4 months since the
         | last outbreak for that to happen.
         | 
         | 3) You're lucky if Abreva works for you. For me, the creams do
         | almost nothing. The only thing that seems to help is
         | Valaciclovir oral tablets. If taken early enough, they can
         | prevent the outbreak or make it a very small cold sore.
         | 
         | So, in summary, I don't think there's anything special about
         | covid with regard to cold sores. It breaks me out about the
         | same as any other virus that runs me down / gives me a few days
         | of fever.
        
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       (page generated 2022-08-28 23:01 UTC)