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A study has suggested that people with long Covid should not undertake intense exercise as it damages their muscles and worsens metabolism. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications on Thursday (Jan 4) said, "A distinctive symptom of patients with long Covid is post-exertional malaise, which is associated with a worsening of fatigue- and pain-related symptoms after acute mental or physical exercise, but its underlying pathophysiology is unclear."

The study involved 25 patients with long Covid who reported experiencing malaise after exercising, and 21 people who were infected by the virus but made a full recovery. None of the participants had been hospitalised. 

"We obtained blood and skeletal muscle biopsies before and after a maximal exercise test with the aim to study the biological factors contributing to the limited exercise capacity and post-exertional malaise in long Covid. Results were compared with those obtained from 21 age- and sex-matched controls who fully recovered from a mild SARS-CoV-2 infection," the study added.

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The findings

The study's findings showed that people with long Covid had a lower exercise capacity than healthy participants. "All long Covid patients experienced post-exertional malaise following maximal exercise, despite considerable heterogeneity in exercise capacity. Symptoms included muscle pain, greater severity of fatigue, and cognitive symptoms up to 7 days after maximal exercise," the study said. 

Also read: Physical activity and your menstrual cycle: Can workouts affect your period?

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All the participants performed a cardiopulmonary exercise test on a cycle ergometer. The maximal oxygen uptake and peak power output were substantially lower in long Covid patients despite marked inter-patient heterogeneity. 

"Patients with long Covid had lower maximal ventilation and lower maximal end-tidal partial pressure of CO2 implying poorer ventilatory function during exercise," it added. 

Speaking to The Guardian, Dr Rob Wüst, an author of the study at VU University Amsterdam said, “It’s really confirming that there is something inside the body going wrong with the disease.”

Wüst said the findings partly explained why people with long Covid had a lower capacity for exercise. “It damages your muscles, it worsens your metabolism, and it can explain why you feel muscle pain and fatigue up to weeks after the exercise,” he added.