Dr Rob Wüst, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Movement and Behaviour Sciences, is an expert cardiac and skeletal muscle metabolism and mitochondrial function. He and the team at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, published the “PEM study” in Nature Communications, which investigated the muscular changes in Long Covid patients who experience post-exertional malaise (PEM), or “the worsening of fatigue- and pain-related symptoms after acute mental or physical exercise”.

In this week’s episode Wüst talks us through the key findings of their study, including the muscular changes, mitochondrial dysfunction and microclots that were present in the Long Covid patients compared to their control group. He discusses the effects of bedrest on the human body and how exercise is usually beneficial for overall health, but highlights what was revealed through blood tests and muscle biopsies in their study – that Long Covid patients have limited exercise capacity with lower mitochondrial function and our rehabilitation needs to be handled with this unique understanding.

Living with Long Covid? How was your week?

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Episode 73: Dr Rob Wüst - Post-exertional Malaise (P.E.M)