Physical activity after COVID-19 can be dangerous to the he alth and even life of survivors. Doctor Paweł Grzesiowski - pediatrician, immunologist, vaccination expert and president of the board of the Institute of Vaccination Prevention Foundation - talks about the research of athletes who have found serious changes in their hearts. "Too heavy loads could in such cases result in sudden death during training" - warns the expert.
Being physically active after COVID-19 requires caution and careful monitoring of your performance and capabilities. Athletes and people who have been physically active and have had coronavirus infection (even with low symptoms) may not be aware of the complications. Too fast return to intense workouts may prove to be dangerous for them. In an interview for "Poradnik Zdrowie", Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski tells how to deal with the disease before resuming full-load training.
Doctor Grzesiowski about what is the risk of physically active people after passing COVID-19?
Dr. Paweł Grzesiowski in an interview with Bartosz Wróblewski from "He alth Guide" talked about the potential dangers of COVID-19 for physically active people:
COVID-19 is a disease that, in addition to this acute phase, triggers auto-aggressive diseases in some people. We must make it clear that this is so - we already know that. The question now is, will we be able to predict to whom this will happen. Is it only genetically determined, which cannot be seen with the naked eye, or will it be possible to find some key and diagnose people who may have serious problems in advance. I will give such an example, because very interesting research has been done among athletes in the United States. It turned out that young, he althy and athletic people had changes in their hearts, even in a dozen or so percent, about which they had no clue. And the past COVID-19 is only mildly symptomatic.
Were these changes dangerous for them?
Yes, because if these people are under the full load of exercise, the heart may just fail to obey at some point and sudden death may occur during training. These are the situations that need to be tested. Especially in those groups that are subject to great strain. So, for example, athletes. Because if it were a normal patient, nota professional athlete, however, he has a lower physical burden. Theoretically, he might not notice this change at all. Maybe if he went to the third floor without an elevator and was breathless - then he will feel that something is wrong, that his circulatory system and respiratory system are less efficient.
Does this also apply to people who are not professional athletes, but are reasonably physically active and are undergoing COVID-19? Should such people be tested when they return to training?
If there is any indication that something is wrong, I think they should seek medical attention. I myself know young people who, for example, ran before COVID, and after COVID they signal that they are able to walk up to two kilometers. And they used to run five and it was no problem for them.
And these are young people, right?
Yes, young people. Such people should definitely seek the help of a cardiologist, pulmonologist, diagnose what is happening in the lungs, as well as assess what is happening in the heart. Because maybe it is a state of inflammation of the heart muscle - hidden, which, fortunately, may pass over time. However, it requires medical care.