New Delhi (The Hawk): As millions of people worldwide, especially in India, suffer from extended Covid, a rehabilitation programme directed by a scientist of Indian descent has helped some of these patients minimise their symptoms and raise their activity levels with "amazing" outcomes.
Before the beginning of the programme, participants reported an average of three "crashs" each week, where they were left physically, emotionally, or intellectually drained following mild physical or mental exertion.
Six weeks later, at the conclusion of the programme, there was an average of one accident per week.
Additionally, the patients observed a "moderate increase" in their ability to be active and an improvement in their quality of life.
"Long Covid is traumatic and incapacitating. Post-exertional malaise or post-exertional symptom exacerbation or simply acrashesa?, as described by patients, is a defining and significant symptom of long-term Covid, a form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease "Associate Clinical Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, Dr. Manoj Sivan, remarked.
When patients have a crash, they feel utter fatigue and pass out, and are unable to resume activities for hours or even days.
"This is the first time that crashing episodes have been used as a marker for the condition, and a structured pacing programme has been shown to significantly reduce symptoms and improve quality of life," said Sivan, who is also a consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
In a journal article published in the Journal of Medical Virology, the research team examined 31 individuals with lengthy Covid.
On average, they had been afflicted with COVID for approximately 17 months before to enrolling in this programme.
In addition to weariness, they were experiencing a variety of symptoms, including cognitive fog, shortness of breath, headache, and palpitations.
The patients followed the World Health Organization's (WHO) "CR-10 Borg pacing regimen" for a progressive return to physical activity, which consists of five levels of exercise. They watched the programme from home.
The first phase consists of breathing exercises and gentle stretching to prepare for return to activities. The fifth phase addressed the patients' pre-illness routines, such as frequent exercise and sports.
During the six-week period, not only were there fewer occurrences of crashes, but there were also increases in activity level and quality of life.
The greatest improvement in terms of alleviating long-term Covid symptoms was shown in the reduction of fatigue, dyspnea, and headaches.
The research group of Dr. Sivan has been at the forefront of new approaches to cure extended Covid. They created the first scale to standardise the measuring of long Covid symptoms, which is currently a mobile phone application used by patients.
(Inputs from Agencies)