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Wheezing, sore throat, and a unique cough are some of the horrific phrases we have become quite familiar with during the tedious months of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the vaccines have rolled out and cases have reduced, unfortunately, people who experienced the arduousness of COVID are now feeling its lasting effects- including feeling tired, unwell and in pain for lengthy periods, particularly after exercise. A recent Dutch study explains the causes behind this.
According to The Guardian, researchers from Amsterdam UMC and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) have revealed that the cause of muscle fatigue is biological changes such as “severe muscle damage, mitochondrial problems, and the presence of microclots in the body.”
Dr. Rob Wüst, from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and one of the authors involved in the research, says: “It’s really confirming that there is something inside the body going wrong with the disease.”
Native Planet has reported that since the spread of the new JN.1 Covid variant, India has recorded over 760 new COVID-19 cases, which brings the total count of cases since January 2020 to 4,50,15,896. Long Covid is thought to affect about 2 million people in the UK alone, with many individuals experiencing a worsening of symptoms for long periods after a single round of exercise.
Long COVID Fatigue: About The Study
Published on the first week of January in the journal Nature Communications, the research involved 25 people with Long Covid who shared feeling tired after exercise and 21 people who had Covid but made a full recovery. The Dutch researchers tested the recovery of each patient after physical exertion on a static bike for 15 minutes. Blood samples and skeletal muscle biopsies were taken a week before and the day after the task.
Rob Wüst, Assistant Professor at the Department of Human Movement Sciences at the VU University, says: “We saw various abnormalities in the muscle tissue of the patients.” In the study, researchers disclosed that severe exercise-induced muscle damage and the following regeneration were associated with the pathophysiology of post-exertion malaise that resulted from changes to the energy-producing mitochondria in muscle cells. [Source: News Medical Life Sciences]
News Medical explains one of the theories about long-COVID is that the virus particles may remain in the body of those who have had COVID. The researchers also revealed that the heart and lungs functioned well in the patients, indicating that the long-term effect on the fitness of the patient is not caused by abnormalities in the heart or lungs.
Symptoms of Long COVID
While the majority of people infected with the COVID-19 virus recover within weeks, a small group of around one in eight will get long-COVID. [Source: News Medical Life Sciences] Symptoms in patients with long-COVID or post-COVID syndrome (PCS) include severe cognitive problems (also known as brain fog), extreme fatigue, intolerance to exercise, orthostatic(posture) intolerance, and worsening of symptoms after PEM.
For those with Long COVID, experts do not recommend exercising. “Walking is good, or riding an electric bike, to maintain some physical condition,” says Brent Appelman, a researcher at Amsterdam UMC, who also emphasises that every patient has a different limit. Michele van Vugt adds that symptoms can worsen, and rehabilitation and physiotherapy are counterproductive for these patients.
