Ramsay Research Grant winner Rob C. I. Wüst (Ramsay Class of 2022) was in the news discussing his recently published results from a Solve-funded study on post-exertional malaise (PEM) that found that Long Covid patients had extreme fatigue, changes in muscle composition and widespread muscle damage.
Wüst explained in The New York Post that the decrease in energy is specific to those with PEM and not seen in other chronic illnesses.“The cause of the fatigue is really biological. The brain needs energy to think. Muscles need energy to move.” Wust told National Geographic, “Normally we know from all the other chronic diseases that exercise is good for you, that exercise is medicine. However, these patients do get worse.”
The study found changes in energy production and muscle composition, and that Long Covid patients had muscle damage before and after working out. The findings by Wüst and his co-authors could help inform better treatments, and the mainstream media coverage of the study will raise further awareness of both PEM and Long Covid.
Read Wüst’s Solve-funded study “Muscle abnormalities worsen after post-exertional malaise in Long Covid” in its entirety in Nature.
