COVID-19: The Long Game (Health Club Management)

Posted: May 11, 2023 in In the News

This article originally appeared in Health Club Management on May 11, 2023.

 

Policy: Long COVID

Long COVID is affecting up to 30 per cent of people who contract the virus. How can you support members suffering from this condition? Kath Hudson speaks to ACE’s Dr Cedric Bryant about his experience.

The most difficult and challenging thing to deal with was the uncertainty of when, and if, it would end. I tried to keep up the positive self-talk that there would be light at the end of the tunnel, but the longer the symptoms persisted, the more I started to wonder if I would have to make dramatic changes to my lifestyle.”

As someone who enjoyed optimal health and does all the things our industry advises for a healthy lifestyle, ACE’s president and chief science officer, Dr Cedric Bryant, did not expect to suffer from Long COVID, especially as his initial infection was mild and short-lived. So it came as a massive shock when – four weeks after his 36-hour illness – he woke up unable to grip with his left hand. The joint pain swiftly swept through his body and tests showed his inflammatory markers were elevated to alarming levels.

A rheumatologist diagnosed it as post-COVID reactive arthritis and said it could take between several weeks to a year to resolve. Seven weeks later the joint pain abated only to be replaced with chronic fatigue from any type of exertion. “That was when I became a member of the Long COVID club,” says Bryant. “I thought the joint pain was awful, but the extreme fatigue associated with the lightest levels of mental or physical exertion was even more troubling.

“Prior to having that experience I would edit books and manuscripts for hours while exercising on the treadmill, but after an hour or so of brain activity post-COVID I’d have to take a nap,” he says. “I love to exercise, but the lightest level of exertion just wiped me out. After a low level, 10-minute session on a recumbent bike, I would feel as though I’d run a marathon in terms of fatigue.”

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