A health expert has warned that 'powering through' a Covid-19 infection will do you no favours.
In fact, it could make your condition worsen and may even lead to you developing long Covid - when symptoms continue after your initial Covid infection ends. The expert urges people not to treat the condition like a mild cold that will pass over soon enough.
Professor Danny Altmann is a long Covid expert and works at Imperial College London. He has co-authored a book on the condition, which is called 'The Long Covid Handbook'. Professor Altmann says that people who have been infected should rest as much as possible until they test negative, reports the Mirror.
The professor also warns that long Covid can impact people of any age, and healthy people could be affected. Speaking to the i, he said: “Powering through when you’ve got Covid appears to give you a notably higher risk of getting long Covid.”
The professor adds: “Take as much time off as you possibly can if you’re still testing positive.”
Professor Altmann warned that the perception of Covid being similar to a cold that will pass in 48 hours is wrong. He also says lateral flow tests are a lot less reliable at diagnosing Omicron, compared to earlier variants, so if you have Covid symptoms but testing negative it's still worth taking it easy.
Having researched Covid and long Covid more generally, he feels confident that not resting has increased people's risk of developing the latter. A research programme he started running at the beginning of the pandemic has published more than 40 papers in journals such as Science, Nature, BMJ and The Lancet.
And he is head of the Government’s National Institute for Health and Care Research programme WILCO – Working out the Immunology of Long Covid – a UK study to define diagnostic tests, mechanisms and treatments for long Covid.
Professor Altmann said the idea that long Covid affected overweight or older people came from the first wave, because those people were more likely to be hospitalised by the virus.
However, as time passed he saw more people who had a normal BMI and were young and fit. They're often female and the type of person who had previously been very active, maybe cycling to work every day, but now have very low energy.
Other experts say Professor Altmann's theory makes sense.
Among those is Steve Griffin a virologist at Leeds University who said he's heard from many members of the long Covid support and research communities that high levels of physical activity too soon during a person's recovery from Covid can increase both the chances and severity of long Covid symptoms.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at Warwick University, meanwhile, also agreed, saying Covid can have many effects on the body, not just a person's lungs, but their gut, nervous system and heart. It's therefore important to take rest and recovery after infection seriously.
Backing up Professor Altmann's theory, is also a study in the journal PLOS ONE that found not resting enough made long Covid symptoms worse. Professor Altmann says long Covid is the first condition to be identified and defined through social media as people share their experiences and concerns about it on Twitter, Facebook and on other platforms.
As a result of awareness of long Covid being raised on social media, large amounts of research money was also raised and dozens of long Covid clinics were being set up. Long Covid affects around 2 million people in the UK and scientists are still learning about the condition.
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