Researchers from the Amsterdam University Medical Center have discovered an important mechanism responsible for fatigue in people with Long COVID. They show that essentially it is an energy availability problem within the muscles, rather than hypoxia due to clots blocking tiny blood vessels as previously thought. The results were published in Nature Communications on January 4, 2024.
Studies conducted in India have revealed that 5.3% to 37.3% of individuals with COVID-19 either experience persistent health issues or develop new symptoms that last for well over three months. Fatigue, shortness of breath and brain fog are prominent among the new symptoms occurring in previously healthy people. This constellation of lingering symptoms has collectively been called Long COVID. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain these.
The commonest symptom is extreme tiredness or fatigue that is worse after even mild exertion. For instance, walking a few steps might result in the same level of fatigue as climbing six flights of stairs, necessitating an immediate rest afterward.
