COVID & the health consequences

Lessons from the Tour Part 2

The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) is responsible for organizing the Tour de France and other cycling races. It was criticized for its COVID testing protocols on the rest days. The ASO is not testing properly. It is barely doing the minimum. Maybe they are hoping that the “if we ignore it, it will go away” strategy will work. So far that hasn’t happened, not at the Tour or anywhere else.

We are in the 7th wave of COVID and as the virus mutates immunity is reducing. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation and many of the health regulations are being set by politics, not the best available evidence. If this continues we are all going to pay a high price.

There is a lot we don’t know about COVID, but some things have compelling evidence.

• Vaccines prevent severe outcomes.
• Masks reduce transmission.
• Ventilation is important to reduce risk.

Some things have little evidence.

• Washing your hands is always a good idea, but doesn’t make that much difference for an airborne virus.
• Viruses don’t care if you are tired.
• Mild doesn’t mean there are no long-term consequences. Mild only means that you do not go to the hospital. You may feel very sick or suffer from Long COVID.

A few positive findings

Long COVID may be a consequence of the virus living in your gut. More than 60% of Long COVID cases in one study showed that they still had the virus in their gut.

Another good reason to eat a whole foods, plant-based diet.

Your gut bacteria love fibre. Most people are fibre deficient, don’t be one of them.

More positive news. Younger athletes seem to have fewer symptoms than unfit people.

Regardless of your age, stay fit and keep fit. Don’t quit.

The effects of physical activity pre-infection were explored in this large study on COVID outcomes.

However, if you do have COVID, DO NOT EXERCISE!

Rest. Rest. Rest. And if in doubt, rest. I can’t stress how important it is to do less, not more.

You should wait at least 10 days from your last day of symptoms to start exercising. Then begin to exercise only if you can walk 500 m without fatigue or other symptoms like coughing or shortness of breath.

A few things you should know:

Every COVID reinfection increases your risk of death and hospitalization. Unfortunately, there is some irresponsible reporting in the media suggesting that variants will get milder, there is no evidence for this. Repeated infections can have long-term health consequences. Including increasing the risk of Long COVID.

Exercise post COVID

I have been doing Cardiac Rehab programs for years and the guidelines for recovering from Long COVID are the same as Cardiac Rehab. The same. Recovering from Long COVID is similar to recovering from a heart attack. Even without experiencing Long COVID recovery is slower than you think.

Return to Activity Considerations:

The National Institute of Health recommends the following for returning to activity.

COVID can also increase the risk of developing diabetes by up to 40%. COVID is still an unknown and thanks to our government policies the virus is getting fitter (meaning more transmissible). BA.5 is more transmissible and it doesn’t matter if you have already had COVID.

Understanding the risk of infection or re-infections is important. There are many great resources that use the available evidence to help us understand the consequences. You might think that the local health authorities would be one of those resources, but like the Tour, their interest may not be in the long-term health and fitness of the participants, like you and me.

If you want to stay informed these are resources I recommend:

Dr. Eric Topol, cardiologist, is considered one of the “rock stars of science.” Read his latest on BA.5

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, public health epidemiologist, whose work focuses on behavioural risk factors and public health. You can follow him on Twitter.

Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist, writes about health issues here.

If you have had COVID take care of your health

Do what you can to avoid reinfections. Eat whole foods, mostly plants, and take care of your gut bacteria. When you have recovered you can start exercising slowly and easily but don’t push yourself. Recovery will take time.

If you have questions about COVID and exercise please send me your questions I have been helping people recover from COVID and have resources that I can share with you.

If you haven’t had COVID take care of your health

All the best evidence shows that being in better health before you contract COVID makes recovery easier and probably reduces the impact of the infection.

There has never been a better time to look after yourself.

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla