Billie Eilish may be more at risk of developing Long Covid, according to a new study.
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.
READ MORE: Billie Eilish admits she’s having ‘hard time’ as she ‘never really grew up’
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. In a cover story for Vogue, the 22-year-old explained she had to quit dancing after a growth plate injury in her hip, at just 13.
(Image: @billieeilish/Instagram)
Followng a series of misdiagnoses, the singer was diagnosed with hypermobility.
Eilish told Vogue about how the discovery changed her relationship with her body: “Going through my teenage years of hating myself and all that stupid s**t, a lot of it came from my anger toward my body, and how mad I was at how much pain it’s caused me, and how much I’ve lost because of things that happened to it,” she said.
“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’.”
(Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Joint hypermobility is when a person’s joints have an unusually large range of movement, which can lead to dislocation, pain, and stiffness.
Billie Eilish is not the only celebrity to share news of their hypermobility diagnosis. English actress and activist Jameela Jamil has long been an advocate for raising awareness of EDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndromes).
EDS are a group of rare inherited conditions that affect connective tissue. This can lead to a range of symptoms including gastrointestinal issues, extreme flexibility, chronic fatigue, joint paint, brain-fog, and skin differences.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Those living with EDS also often suffer from a range of comorbidities (associated conditions), such as neurodiversity, IBS, sleep disorders, MS, and PoTS (Postural Tachycardic Syndrome). Jamil was diagnosed with the most common of EDS subtype: hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.
Other celebrities that have openly shared their diagnosis, include Selma Blair, Lena Dunham, Halsey, Myleene Klass, and Sia.
Earlier this Lena wrote on her Instagram about the condition. She said: “Until I was in my late twenties, I didn’t know that all my bendy party tricks (or the random fits of flushing which made red lipstick a gamble, or my migraines or swollen knees or fainting spells…) weren’t just quirks.”
She continued: “They were all part of Hypermobile Ehler Danlos Syndrome, a genetic condition that means a lack of collagen in my connective tissue. This causes everything from joint pain & dislocation, poor wound healing and a plethora of seemingly random symptoms that aren’t so random at all.”
The BMJ study also acknowledged that greater awareness of joint hypermobility and its associated conditions is desperately needed to improve medicine – for stars and the general public alike.
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