Friday 14 October 2022 05:34 PM Now scientists say 'exercise intolerance' should be considered a symptom of ... trends now
Exercise 'intolerance' should be considered an official symptom of long Covid, scientists say.
A review of existing studies found the condition — which is still not fully understood — can rob people of the equivalent of a decade’s worth of physical fitness.
The finding adds to a long list of symptoms associated with long Covid — the name for signs of illness that linger months after a Coronavirus infection.
Previous studies have found headaches, fatigue and brain fog to be the most common ailments, but anecdotally people say they also struggle to exercise.
Working out if long Covid is the true culprit for these problems has proven tricky, given how commonplace these symptoms are.
Professor Matthew Durstenfeld, a cardiologist at the University of California in San Francisco, who led the new review, said there was definitely 'something going on'.
His team looked at endurance capacity in people with long Covid and compared them to people of similar ages who recovered from the virus.
They found long Covid sufferers performed worse, and had the stamina of someone a decade younger.
Exercise 'intolerance' should be considered an official symptom of long Covid, scientists say (file)
CDC data shows the percentage of people reporting symptoms after a positive Covid test. The green, purple, turquoise and orange bars show the people who would be classed as having long Covid, as symptoms are persisting after 12 weeks. The most commonly reported lasting symptoms are headaches, runny nose, loss of smell, taste or hair and sore throat
The estimated number of people in the UK with self-reported long Covid has grown over the months, reaching a peak during April 2022 of 1,988
