DenisCOVIDinfoguy, 2 months ago

Study could overturn advice on exercising with long COVID | ausdoc.com.au

"Findings show that patients with lingering symptoms experienced no severe effects from exercise, compared with healthy people."

#LongCOVID #Exercise @auscovid19

Source: https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/study-could-overturn-advice-on-exercising-with-long-covid-authors/

Study: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2817149

But the new findings showed that long COVID patients do just as well after exercise as healthy people, “even though they had more symptoms to begin with”, Ms Tryfonos said in an institute news release. “By equally well, I mean that they did not worsen their symptoms or negatively affect their body during the 48 hours we observed them.” Early observations suggested that exercising with long COVID could be harmful, researchers noted. Long COVID symptoms like extreme fatigue, shortness of breath, elevated heart rate and muscle weakness were often exacerbated by exertion. To see whether exercise helps or harms, researchers recruited 31 people with long COVID and matched them to 31 healthy people. All participants completed three different exercise sessions consisting of high-intensity interval training and moderate-intensity aerobic exercise — both on an exercise bike — as well as strength training. The sessions happened in random order a few weeks apart, researchers said in JAMA Network Open. All participants underwent a battery of medical exams before, immediately after and two days after the training sessions, to assess their symptoms and overall health. “People with post-COVID-19 had generally lower levels of fitness and muscle strength, which could be due to both the infection and lower activity,” Ms Tryfonos said. As many as 62% of long COVID patients also had myopathy, a percentage that was “far too high” to be explained by reduced activity alone, she said.