Microclots found in our muscle tissue
New research shows that microclots can cause tissue damage after strenuous exercise.
Exercise is good for health, but it can be harmful for some long Covid sufferers, new research shows.
Those experiencing debilitating crashes after strenuous activity – a condition known as post-exertional malaise – risk severe tissue damage from hardcore exercise, scientists in the Netherlands found.
An analysis of post-exercise tissue collected from participants’ upper leg muscle found patients were more likely than controls to display signs of severe tissue damage, including dying muscle fibres, inflammation and metabolic disturbances.
Patients also had an increased accumulation in their muscle of amyloid-containing deposits, which other studies have observed in the blood vessels of long Covid sufferers.
It seems like it is true what many Long Covid sufferers long suspected: that exercise and "pushing through the pain" can actually be harmful.
In the meantime, long Covid patient support groups recommend a “stop, rest, pace” approach to avoid severe crashes triggered by certain levels of physical, mental or emotional activity.