European Respiratory Journal

All right.

The article "Sputum and Oral Microbiota Profiles Are Associated With Long COVID Severity and Phenotype Post-Hospitalization: A UK Multicenter Prospective Cohort Study" published in the European Respiratory Journal.

Um, in this study, adults were prospectively recruited to the, uh, longitudinal UK post-hospitalization COVID-19 study, the Phoscovid study Patients were grouped by previously described severity clusters of ongoing health dis- impairments and symptom subgroups.

Oral and sputum microbiota at six months post-discharge were characterized through 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing, and microbiota diversity was assessed.

Yeah, and as anyone who's gotten sick or has had to take antibiotics knows, the microbiome can get knocked out of whack.

So this new study in the European Respiratory Journal focused on a microbiome that's less well-known, in the lung.

Your lung also has good bacteria, and your lung also has a microbiome.

So does your nose.

Here's what it says.

"People with long COVID have distinct differences in the mix of bacteria that live in their mouths and lungs." They looked at 700 people, published in European Respiratory Journal, major journal, highly respected.

And the research shows that, quote, "These differences in lung microbiome are linked to respiratory symptoms as well as cognitive and digestive problems known to occur in long COVID." So what does this mean? It means that some people have long COVID, generally people with weakened immune systems.

The body is not strong enough, nor does it have the right nutrients like nanokinases and ivermectin and, uh, uh, chelation therapy, vitamin C drips.

But times they are a-changing.

In recent years, the merit of this adjustment for ethnicity has been debated in major reviews in the European Respiratory Journal, Chest, and the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

That perhaps it's not race that drives population differences but other modifiable factors.

Or if there is some pre-existing difference, this needs to be explored also in overlooked groups such as First Nations people.

These delicious fruits that are ripening everywhere in Vermont right now have phytochemicals in them that can potentially lead to increased pulmonary function by decreasing inflammation and oxidative stress.

The European Respiratory Journal published results from a study reporting that over a 10-year period, apples could help slow declining function, especially for former smokers.

Bananas are the next one that I wanted to suggest incorporating more of into your diet.

They're high in fiber and vitamin C, also rich in potassium.

And how does that risk then apply in this situation? It's an area that doesn't have a lot of data, and I'm sure we'll get into that a little bit more.

But I would point to, and we know this in r- other inflammatory conditions, one of the things that I think is really important to know is that we do have some data here that if we look at the paper from 2023 in the European Respiratory Journal, that individuals, persons with CF have an increased risk of plaque-based heart disease compared to people without cystic fibrosis of same age and similar risk factors.

So that risk seems to be there, and I think inflammation has a lot to do with it.

And in that paper, like, the hazard ratio was one point six five.