Research result: Long COVID's fatigue caused by mitochondrial disfunction.

[jeffreyn]

MedicalXpress article:

Researchers discover that tiredness experienced by long COVID patients has a physical cause.

medicalxpress.com/news/2024...

Possible implications for PD research?

[Ashti]

Thank you for posting this. From the study:

"We saw various abnormalities in the muscle tissue of the patients. At the cellular level, we saw that the mitochondria of the muscle, also known as the energy factories of the cell, function less well and that they produce less energy," says Rob Wüst, Assistant Professor at Department of Human Movement Sciences at the VU University."

"Although the majority of people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus recover within weeks, a subgroup, estimated to be around one in eight, will get long COVID. Symptoms in patients with long COVID, post-acute sequelae or COVID or post-COVID syndrome (PCS) include severe cognitive problems (brain fog), fatigue, exercise intolerance, autonomic dysregulation, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), orthostatic intolerance, and worsening of symptoms after PEM."

Some of these symptoms sound similar to what happened to my husband, a few months before his official PD diagnosis with the neurologist. He already had PD symptoms before covid, but they became pronounced after covid (tremor)- with the addition of post-covid related exercise being very exhausting, and fatigue in general. That was over a year ago. Luckily he is feeling much better now. But both long-covid and PD seem to mess with the mitochondria.