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When is it safe to return to exercise post-COVID-19?

Irfan Ahmed and Aessa Tumi
British Journal of General Practice 2020; 70 (701): 580-581. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp20X713609
Irfan Ahmed
University College London Hospital, London. Email:
Roles: GP/Sport and Exercise Medicine Registrar
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  • For correspondence: Irfan.ahmed5@nhs.net
Aessa Tumi
St Mary’s Hospital, London.
Roles: GP ST1 Registrar
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A’Court et al suggest that patients with ‘mild’ COVID-19 illness, and who are asymptomatic, do not need to restrict exercise.1 While this seems to be a straightforward distinction, new evidence on ‘Long COVID’ presentations even in patients with ‘mild’ illness is starting to raise questions on how we define the severity of COVID illness. The National Institute for Health Research recently suggested that patients with ‘Long COVID’ may well represent four subgroups of clinical syndromes, and therefore have different rehabilitation needs.2

Often patients report symptoms that are refractory, intermittent, or resolve before returning in episodic bouts (these include (muscle aches, chest pains, dyspnoea, and fatigue), many of which are relative contraindications to exercise.3 The reality of COVID is that the clinical course of infection and recovery does not fit clearly defined categories (of mild, moderate, or severe illness) and symptoms rarely fit into the binary category of cardiac or non-cardiac. In addition to this, patients’ rehabilitation goals are very individual and often relate to their pre-morbid status, and this requires a tailored approach that takes into account the physical demands of their day-to-day activities and occupation.

  • © British Journal of General Practice 2020

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    1. A’Court C,
    2. Shanmuganathan M,
    3. Leoni-Moreno JC
    (2020) COVID-19 and cardiac considerations in the community. Br J Gen Pract, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp20X713141.
  2. 2.↵
    1. Mahase E
    (2020) Long covid could be four different syndromes, review suggests. BMJ 371, m3981.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  3. 3.↵
    1. Nabavi N
    (2020) Long covid: how to define it and how to manage it. BMJ 370, m3489.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
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British Journal of General Practice: 70 (701)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 70, Issue 701
December 2020
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When is it safe to return to exercise post-COVID-19?
Irfan Ahmed, Aessa Tumi
British Journal of General Practice 2020; 70 (701): 580-581. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp20X713609

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When is it safe to return to exercise post-COVID-19?
Irfan Ahmed, Aessa Tumi
British Journal of General Practice 2020; 70 (701): 580-581. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp20X713609
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