Regular Physical Activity Can Counteract LONG COVID Symptoms in Adults over 40, 2024, Centorbi et al.

Regular Physical Activity Can Counteract LONG COVID Symptoms in Adults over 40
Centorbi, Marco; Di Martino, Giulia; della Valle, Carlo; Iuliano, Enzo; Di Claudio, Gloria; Mascioli, Amelia; Calcagno, Giuseppe; di Cagno, Alessandra; Buonsenso, Andrea; Fiorilli, Giovanni

Three years after the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic, a chronic post-COVID syndrome “LONG COVID” persists, causing fatigue and shortness of breath, along with distress, anxiety, and depression.

AIMS
To assess the impact of physical activity on the management and rehabilitation of LONG COVID, as well as to investigate the persistence of LONG COVID symptomatology in individuals over 40 years, beyond the pandemic.

METHODS
A total of 1004 participants (aged 53.45 ± 11.35) were recruited through an online snowball sampling strategy to complete a web-based survey. The following questionnaires were administered: Physical Activity Scale for Elderly (PASE), Shortness of Breath Questionnaire (SOBQ), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 item (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), and Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Functions (FSMC).

RESULTS
Significant gender differences were discovered, with women reporting higher symptoms than men (p < 0.001). Significant age differences were also found, with participants under 55 showing higher values than those over 55 (p < 0.001). No significant differences were found between aerobic and mixed physical activity (p > 0.05) while significant results emerged between physical activity groups and the no activity group (p < 0.001). The low-frequency group reported higher symptoms than the high-frequency group (all ps < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS
Regardless of the type of physical activity performed, our survey identified the frequency of training as a crucial factor to overcome LONG COVID symptoms; the challenge lies in overcoming the difficulties due to the persistent feelings of inefficiency and fatigue typical of those who have contracted the infection.

Link | PDF (Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology) [Open Access]

 

The usual drivel. I only skimmed but didn't see if there was any thought that being able to continue exercising might indicate a lesser degree of disease. But hey let's not worry about correlation in this retrospective subjective assessment, we can just conclude with —

Along the way let's also go with —

 

FFS —

 

Aside from clearly not having bothered to know what Long Covid even is, this is as textbook an example ever gets for confusing correlation with causation so hard that it requires ignoring reality. It literally blames the outcome as its own cause, basically defying physical reality and basic logic. They put exactly zero effort into even figuring out what LC even entails. The dynamics required for smart people to produce drivel this mindlessly dumb is really impressive.

Meanwhile stuff like this:

Pretty much makes the point that the concept of 'trauma' is completely meaningless. It means whatever they want it to mean in the present context, and will mean something else entirely if more convenient in a different context. It also suggests that the basic concept of illness is just as meaningless, it means nothing to them, it's completely devoid of any actual relation to the real experience of illness.

I'm trying to imagine just how relentless the mockery some weirdo economists would get by suggesting that since wealthy people buy more stuff and poor people buy less stuff, then clearly poor people should adopt wealthy people spending habits and this will increase their income. But I can't because economics is a more serious discipline than... whatever this is.