Daily Star and BMJ
Extracts
American singer and songwriter Billie Eilish has previously mentioned medical conditions she faces such as Tourette's syndrome, but it is hypermobility that puts her at risk of the long covid, according to study by BMJ. Other celebrities to share news of hypermobility diagnoses include English actress and activist Jameela Jamil, who has long been an advocate for raising awareness of EDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndromes), and actress Selma Blair.
Billie Eilish told Vogue “I felt like my body was gaslighting me for years,” she said. “I had to go through a process of being like, ‘My body is actually me. And it’s not out to get me’.”
Hypermobile Ehler Danlos Syndrome is a genetic condition that means a lack of collagen in connective tissue. This causes everything from joint pain and dislocation to poor wound healing.
A recent investigation for BMJ Public Health performed a deep dive into how certain conditions can affect the likelihood of developing Long Covid. Namely, the study explores the prevalence of post-COVID syndrome in patients with hypermobility spectrum disorders, like Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.
The study, titled ‘Is joint hypermobility linked to self-reported non-recovery from COVID-19', considers new evidence from the British COVID Symptom study Biobank. The research found that individuals with hypermobility were 30% more likely to develop Long Covid.
BMJ Study Abstract
Objectives This study sought to explore whether generalised joint hypermobility (GJH, a common marker of variant connective tissue) was a risk factor for self-reported non-recovery from COVID-19 infection.
Design Prospective observational study.
Setting COVID Symptom Study Biobank (https://cssbiobank.com/) UK
Participants Participants were surveyed in August 2022. 3064 (81.4%) reported at least one infection with COVID-19. These individuals self-reported on recovery and completed a self-report questionnaire to detect GJH (Hakim and Grahame 5-part questionnaire, 5PQ).
Main outcome measures The primary outcome was the presence of self-reported non-recovery from COVID-19 infection at the time of the survey. Additional outcomes included scores on 5PQ and self-reported fatigue level (Chalder Fatigue Scale).
Results The presence of GJH was not specifically associated with reported COVID-19 infection risk per se. However, it was significantly associated with non-recovery from COVID-19 (OR 1.43 (95% CI 1.20 to 1.70)). This association remained after sequential models adjusting for age, sex, ethnic group, education level and index of multiple deprivation (OR 1.33 (95% CI 1.10 to 1.61)) and further adjustment for vaccination status and number of vaccinations (OR 1.33 (95% CI 1.10 to 1.60)). Additionally, including in a model adjusting for all covariates, hypermobility significantly predicted higher fatigue levels (B=0.95, SE=0.25, t=3.77, SE, p=0.002). Fatigue levels mediated the link between GJH and non-recovery from COVID-19 (estimate of indirect effect=0.18, 95% bootstrapped CI 0.08 to 0.29).
Conclusions Individuals with GJH were approximately 30% more likely not to have recovered fully from COVID-19 infection at the time of the questionnaire, and this predicted the fatigue level. This observation is clinically important through its potential impact for understanding and identifying sub-phenotypes of long COVID for screening and personalised targeted interventions. More generally, greater awareness of GJH and its extra-articular associations is needed for effective patient stratification and implementation of personalised medicine.
Further information:
- Daily Star: Inside painful ‘bendy' condition leaving stars like Billie Eilish at risk of long Covid | 27 October 2024