PEA (palmitoylethanolamide) is a fatty acid amide that modulates our endocannabinoid system, and it also hits the PPAR receptors. Our bodies make PEA, and it is easy to cook up as a supplement. It has been used experimentally for treating inflammation. And there is a strong theoretical rationale that suggests it might be useful for long covid. So I was excited when I saw this study published recently. But then I read the study and was disappointed - the research doesn’t really prove anything. It is small and doesn’t have a control group, so we don’t know how much of the improvement is due to the PEA, and how much might have occurred simply because people can get better over time.
“The Use of Palmitoylethanolamide in the Treatment of Long COVID: A Real-Life Retrospective Cohort Study.” Medical Sciences, 14 Jul 2022, PMID 35893119, Full Study.
The researchers acknowledged the issues related to not having a control group, but they said that they thought it unlikely that people would have improved so much without the daily dose of 2 PEA capsules. Maybe they are right — but that is more in the realm of observation and opinion; it is not clear proof that PEA is useful for Long Covid.
I’ve written a bit about the CB2 receptors in our body; these are part of the endocannabinoid system, and they are widespread in the immune system - they help calm hyperimmune and autoimmune processes.
But the bottom line is that this study doesn’t really tell us much. It doesn’t prove or disprove the idea that PEA might help. The story is still unfinished. I hope that we soon see studies that are better designed to tell us with a high level of certainty if PEA is better than a placebo. There are plenty of theoretical reasons to suggest that PEA ~might~ help.