A team of researchers – including ME Research UK-funded researcher Associate Professor Rob Wüst – has published a manuscript in the leading science journal, Nature Communications, highlighting that muscle problems in long COVID and ME/CFS cannot be explained by prolonged inactivity.
A recent press release emphasises the importance of their findings:
“The findings are important for the way exercise-induced symptoms in post-COVID and ME/CFS are viewed. The results show that the symptoms cannot be easily explained by reduced physical activity or loss of fitness. The muscles of patients function differently in several respects than those of healthy people who have been inactive for a long period.
According to the researchers, this means that treatment and rehabilitation must be better aligned with the biological abnormalities found in these patients. Standard training programs based on normal deconditioning may not be suitable for people with post-COVID or ME/CFS. This is especially true when they suffer from post-exertional malaise: a worsening of symptoms after physical or mental exertion.”
(Note: this quote was auto-translated from Dutch to English)
ME Research UK is acknowledged as one of the funders for this important work. We previously covered the pre-print, and will cover the paper in more depth once the manuscript is finalised.
