Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

science.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 155 posts

Re: Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

#81

Post by cosmojg »

RohMin wrote: post #20
francisofascii wrote: post #5

My gut reaction (pun intended) or guess on what causes Long Covid is a viral reservoir, possibly in the gut, that the immune system cannot fully clear. Low serotonin is then a downstream effect from the chronic stress on the body. Approx. 90% of serotonin found in the human body is located in the (GI) tract. So people and doctors will throw SSRIs at the problem, and maybe that will relieve some symptoms, but will not…

While most of the body’s serotonin is indeed in the gut, the serotonin that impacts our mood, sleep, and other cognitive functions is exclusively produced and used in the brain.

The evidence supporting any specific, direct behavioral function of serotonin in the brain is only marginally more substantial than the evidence supporting any specific, direct behavioral function of serotonin in the gut[1]. If anything, the evidence suggests that the behavioral effects of serotonin are more global and abstract, mediated via downstream effects on other neurotransmitters and circuits controlled chiefly by other neurotransmitters, such that behavioral correlations can only be drawn generally and indirectly.

Your confidence is totally and completely unwarranted.

[1] https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2022/jul/no-evidence-depression-c...

Re: Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

#82

Post by cosmojg »

ycombinete wrote: post #57
ofjcihen wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was going to say this. My one gripe with HN is that people say incorrect things with complete confidence pretty regularly and you can only Detect it if you know the subject matter.

One finds the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect in the strangest of places

I cringe nearly anytime I see anything about neuroscience on HN, and yet I keep reading. I almost wish I had studied something else just to avoid that feeling.

Re: Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

#84

Post by avisser »

local_crmdgeon wrote: post #75
throwaway6977 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You get down voted because there are thousands of people suffering from real physical symptoms of this - like clots and tachycardia - and you are waving away the symptoms as a mental illness. What a joke; I hope no one ever does that to you.

Should we not be Trusting the Science? This paper is The Science.

You aren't wrong, but "the science" figured out that Epstein-Barr was connected to multiple sclerosis _last year_. Maybe some skepticism that things aren't settled is warranted - especially with something so new.

Re: Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

#85

Post by ddmf »

The main "long covid" symptom I really detest is the loss of smell/taste - after almost 2 years I still cannot smell or taste certain things, the worst being cinnamon in things like cinnamon grahams and cinnamon buns, strangely though I can taste the cinnamon fire jolly ranchers ok.

I sound like I'm jesting, but I love food, and I'm a big fan of scent too - things just don't smell or taste right anymore.

SSRIs can cause neurogenesis, wonder if that's some of the interaction - I thought perhaps the exhaustion could be too much tryptophan turning into serotonin in the brain, which causes fatigue?

Re: Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

#86

Post by teeray »

wahnfrieden wrote: post #40
saiya-jin wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard this, that and also blood clots forming in the brain. Maybe much more, we will see in upcoming years. Nasty disease

Why do we now treat it like regular flu then?

Society suspended the activities of ordinary daily living as much as it could in hopes of diminishing or eliminating the risks posed by COVID. When that risk reduction encountered diminishing returns, society determined that the benefits of ordinary daily living outweighed the total risk posed by death or disablement by COVID and all other mortal threats we face daily.

Re: Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

#87

Post by ChrisRR »

PrayagBhakar wrote: post #71
thesid wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I’m confused why folks think long covid isn’t real? Most disease have long lasting effects. Why not covid?

Just ignore them. These nutjobs are made not believing in covid the entire personality so that they could feel smart, and now they have to cling to that belief instead of accepting reality

Re: Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

#88

Post by jinder »

avisser wrote: post #78
jinder wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While the serotonin used in your gut doesn’t directly impact the brain, it does impact the enteric nervous system which communicates via the vagus nerve to your brain. So I don’t think it’s correct to say this doesn’t (or couldn’t) impact your mood (and indeed murine experiments demonstrate it does).

Perhaps my favorite science experiment, next to dual-slit, https://radiolab.org/podcast/197242-gut-feelings They cut the vagus nerves of rats and see behavior change. Which makes sense to me - when "brains" first evolved, the connection to the stomach would've been the prime connection.

Not just that. In mice, SSRIs stop having any anti-depressant effects if the vagus nerve is severed: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-50807-8

So they also seem to be effective via the enteric nervous system!

Re: Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

#89

Post by tootie »

bluehorizon2 wrote: post #15

So basically most long covid is a form of depression. It makes sense given the fact that most self reported long covid was white middle aged females over any other demographic

This isn't the gotcha you think it is. Lack of serotonin is correlated with depression. Mood and cognition are functions of the brain and the brain can malfunction due to pathogen. Saying this is depression isn't the same as saying it isn't a disease or that it isn't caused by covid-19.

Re: Low serotonin levels might explain some Long Covid symptoms, study proposes

#90

Post by ChrisRR »

wahnfrieden wrote: post #40
saiya-jin wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard this, that and also blood clots forming in the brain. Maybe much more, we will see in upcoming years. Nasty disease

Why do we now treat it like regular flu then?

Better understanding of the disease and a more widely vaccinated populous.

Flu is also a very nasty disease. I've only had it once in the last 10 years and my god I do not want it again.

Post reply on HN