Fatigue in long Covid patients found to impact their nervous system
The Hindu
New research has shown the nervous system of long Covid patients experiencing fatigue to exhibit under activity in three areas
New research has shown the nervous system of long Covid patients experiencing fatigue to exhibit under activity in these three areas - specific cortical circuits, autonomic nervous system and muscle abnormalities.
Underactivity in specific cortical circuits reflects as a slower reaction in specific brain areas, while an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system impacts unconscious body processes such as blood pressure and rate of breathing, which can, in turn, have wide-ranging effects on several different body processes.
In muscle abnormalities, the muscle fibres become more easily fatigued after exercise than in people without post-COVID fatigue.
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The research was carried at the Newcastle University, UK, and is published in the journal Brain Communications.
Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of long Covid.
While most people who catch Covid do not become severely ill and get better relatively quickly, some have long-term problems after recovering from the infection - even if they were not very ill in the first place.
