Yes I've read quite a few Bell's Palsy R&D articles in recent years, and I believe Lloyd had it previously before the pandemic.
I had always thought that men and women were affected equally, but apparently when looking at age distribution I was surprised to read how common it is for younger women. Also it's under-diagnosed, the speculation is that many do not even realise they have had it as the symptoms and side-effects can be very mild and are usually not permanent, a twitchy feeling in an eyelid or eyebrow might be all people notice. There have been some suggestions contraceptive pills are also a contributing cause in young women, but these all seem to be correlation rather than causation, and the researchers pointed out that the same correlation could easily point to increasing sexual activity in adolescents and this might point to some commonly encountered viruses.
I had always thought that men and women were affected equally, but apparently when looking at age distribution I was surprised to read how common it is for younger women. Also it's under-diagnosed, the speculation is that many do not even realise they have had it as the symptoms and side-effects can be very mild and are usually not permanent, a twitchy feeling in an eyelid or eyebrow might be all people notice. There have been some suggestions contraceptive pills are also a contributing cause in young women, but these all seem to be correlation rather than causation, and the researchers pointed out that the same correlation could easily point to increasing sexual activity in adolescents and this might point to some commonly encountered viruses.
"Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck ....... Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck"