Long Covid causes body changes that make exercise tiring – study
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Prolonged illness with the infection of COVID-19 leads to damage to some muscles in the body. As a result, it is harder for a person to tolerate physical exertion.
Among the symptoms can be pain, a feeling of fatigue and malaise, reports The Guardian with reference to a study by scientists from the Free University of Amsterdam, published in the journal Nature Communications.
In the course of the work, scientists examined 25 patients who had been ill with COVID-19 for a long time and complained of increased workload due to physical exertion. They also examined 21 people who fell ill and fully recovered from the coronavirus.
It is noted that all of them were of working age and none of them were hospitalized with a diagnosis of COVID-19.
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As part of the study, each participant spent 10-15 minutes on an exercise bike. Scientists examined their blood samples and skeletal muscle biopsies a week before exercise and the day after exercise.
Thus, scientists found that, on average, people with a long course of COVID-19 had a lower physical capacity than healthy participants. This is influenced by white muscle fibers – scientists have found that there are more of them in people who have had a long course of coronavirus infection.
The study also showed that their fibers have fewer structures that produce energy in the cells, unlike the muscles of healthy participants.
A comparison of biopsies taken before and after cycling showed that mitochondrial function worsened after exercise in those with long-term COVID-19. These participants also had much more post-exercise tissue damage and signs that the body was trying to repair them.
“This could explain, for example, the muscle pain these patients experience after exercise.”– said the author of the study, Rob Wuest.
According to him, the results of the study partly explain why people who have been sick with COVID-19 for a long time have lower endurance for physical exertion.
The scientists also found that people with long-term COVID-19 had more clumps of a protein called amyloid in their skeletal muscles.
“Long Covid damages muscles and impairs metabolism. THIS may explain why you feel sore muscles and fatigue weeks after your workout.” – says Rob Wuest.
We previously reported that, according to scientists, people who have experienced COVID-19 are twice as likely to experience shortness of breath or fatigue.
Read also: Why do children tolerate COVID-19 more easily than adults? Scientists have guesses
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