Brain fog, fatigue and headaches are common symptoms of long Covid. Now a new study suggests another long-lasting effect of Covid-19 is reduced capacity for exercise.

Long-Covid and Exercise Study

In the study, researchers from UC San Francisco and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital identified 38 previous studies that tracked the exercise performances of more than 2,000 participants who previously had Covid-19 and including those with probable Long-Covid.

The researchers concentrated their analysis to nine studies in which the exercise performances of 359 participants who had recovered from the virus was compared to that of 464 participants who had symptoms consistent with Long-Covid.

The Findings

The findings suggest that the Long-Covid participants may have reduced oxygen function in the muscles, irregular breathing patterns, and a reduced ability to increase heart rate during exercise to match cardiac output.

In their analysis of the studies, the researchers stated that while they found “modest but consistent evidence" suggesting exercise capacity is reduced in participants with Long-Covid, there was "a low confidence in the magnitude of effect" and attributed this to small study sizes, oversampling of hospitalised participants, as well as those with acute symptoms.

The Study Conclusion

On this basis they concluded further research is required, including trials of potential therapies as well as further investigation into dysfunctional breathing, damage to the nerves that control automatic body functions and the inability to increase the heart rate adequately during exercise.

My conclusion:

While there is more research the researchers need to carry out, it stands to reason that Long-Covid is something that we continue to have to live with. Whilst for some of us, Covid may have been mild initially, it's becoming clear, the effects are clearly far more longer-lasting and wider-reaching. We now need to wait until the research is complete.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com