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After two years of coronavirus pandemic, the type of treatment to deal with persistent or long COVID COVID does not have a definite consensus among scientists. Prolonged or persistent COVID is a common clinical picture among those who have been infected with coronavirus and were discharged.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), long COVID is considered to be disorders or ailments that a person “with a history of probable or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, usually 3 months from the start, has symptoms that last at least 2 months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis”.
A team from the Pennington Center for Biomedical Research, USA, identified that physical exercise could effectively treat diabetes caused by prolonged COVID.
New research has shown that physical activity can break the severe cycle of inflammation caused by COVID that can result in the development of diabetes and depression months after a person recovers from the initial virus. The results of the study were published in the specialized journal Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews.
“We know that prolonged COVID causes depression and we know that it can raise blood glucose levels to the point where people develop diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition common among people with type 1 diabetes. Exercise can help, physical activity takes care of inflammation that leads to elevated blood glucose and the development and progression of diabetes and clinical depression,” said Candida Rebello, research scientist at the Pennington Center for Biomedical Research.
Symptoms of prolonged COVID
It is currently unknown how many people are affected by the long duration of COVID, with estimates ranging from 15% to 80% of people infected with the disease.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) listed a variety of potentially debilitating symptoms of the condition, including depression, mental fog, muscle pain, and fatigue that may persist for months after a patient recovers from initial infection with COVID. Perhaps the most serious symptom is diabetes caused by prolonged COVID, a condition that can cause a number of life-threatening complications.
“A person may not become seriously ill from COVID-19, but six months later, long after the cough or fever is gone, they develop diabetes,” Dr. Rebello said.
The Benefits of Exercise
According to the new research, including an exercise routine could provide an alternative and effective strategy to mitigate diabetes caused by the long duration of COVID.
“You don't need to run a mile or even walk a mile briskly. Walking slowly is also exercising. The ideal would be to do a 30-minute exercise session. But if you can only do 15 minutes at a time, try doing two 15-minute sessions. If you can only walk 15 minutes once a day, do so. The important thing is to try. It doesn't matter where you start. You can gradually increase to the recommended level of exercise,” the author of the study advised.
“We know that physical activity is a key component of a healthy life. This research shows that exercise can be used to break the chain reaction of inflammation that leads to high blood sugar levels and then to the development or progression of type 2″ diabetes, said Pennington Biomedical CEO John Kirwan, who is also a co-author of the article.
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