Long Covid: New Study Focusing on Exponential Increase in Physical Activity Sees ‘Impressive Results’ | UK News

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Before she contracted COVID, Susannah Thompson led an active life.

She worked 10-hour shifts as a general practitioner, loved ballet, and swam as much as she could.

But since 2020, she has been dealing with COVID for a long time and her life has been turned upside down.

“I’ll be the mom who crawls through the soft toys, and goes down the slides.

“Now I’m the stay-at-home mom in bed while they’re away without me, which is really hard.”

There are around two million people currently living with prolonged symptoms of COVID in the UK, but there are still many unknowns.

For example, there is no standardized test, or even a universally recognized definition.

Suzanna is still coping with the prolonged COVID symptoms.

At first, she said, she felt better physically but realized the relief she felt would only be temporary.

“You get this cycle where one day you’re fine, and you think ‘Oh, I’m fine today’ so you try to do more.

“You sit for a while longer, and you read a story with your kids.

But the next day you can’t move. [Even] The quilt is very heavy.”

Researchers at the University of Leeds believe their new study may help.

And it found “impressive results” with the long COVID program, which was based on a “gradual or accelerated increase” in a patient’s physical activity.

The study followed 31 people with prolonged COVID symptoms for six weeks.

At the start of the study, the study said patients reported an average of three “accidents” per week in which they were left “physically, emotionally, or cognitively exhausted.”

But by the end of the study, this had dropped to a rate of one impingement per week.”

The research project was supervised by Dr. Manoj Sivan, Associate Professor in the College of Medicine.

“When patients are involved in a road accident, they feel completely exhausted and worn out and are unable to resume activities for hours or sometimes days,” he said.

Read more: Three long COVIDs identified with different symptoms How long COVID has ruined my life, from extreme fatigue to brain fog

“The results of this research are exciting because this is the first time that relapsing episodes have been used as an indicator of the condition, and a structured pacing program has now been shown to significantly reduce symptoms and improve quality of life.”

But the study is keen to stress that the focus should be on “physical activity” rather than exercise, and that it should be monitored for safety and effectiveness.

“This study is not about pushing and forcing people to do an activity, this is a gradual return to activity following a pacing protocol,” explains Dr. Sivan.

Susanna says the study is a positive step in the right direction but adds that there is a lot of work to be done.

“I’m getting to a point where I don’t know what the future is. The doctors I trust and respect the most are the ones who openly say, ‘We don’t know’…but we can hope.”

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