Thread by @ThePhySoc

How can we resolve #LongCOVID symptoms? Patients ‘feel like they’ve aged 20-30 years overnight’ or ‘couldn’t make a cup of tea’ says @MMcNarry @SwanseaUni at #LongCOVIDConference. 1/6

Shortness of breath is one of the major symptoms. Traditional pulmonary rehabilitation is difficult to implement on scale. We require a ‘highly individualised approach to help those experiencing #LongCOVID’ says @MMcNarry #LongCOVIDConference 2/6

Respiratory muscle training helps to strengthen the breathing muscles, worked for other types of respiratory conditions. @MMcNarry carried out study, where participants used a small handheld breathing device. This tracked every breath & gave participants instant feedback 3/6

After 8 weeks, there was a very large decrease in breathlessness in the intervention group compared to the control group physoc.org/news_article/h… 4/6

Intervention group says that there were improvements every week. They reported being able to do activities that they couldn’t do before, some reported being able to go to work again, and some reported a decrease in anxiety - @MMcNarry #LongCOVIDConference 5/6

This low cost, home-based rehabilitation programme could be scaled up and implemented in collaboration with healthcare providers to assess its feasibility in a real-world setting - @MMcNarry presenting at #LongCOVIDConference 6/6

Handheld breathing device could reduce breathlessness and improve physical fitness in #LongCOVID patients -@MMcNarry @SwanseaUni presents new research at #LongCOVIDConference. The intervention was developed by a UK-wide team of breathing experts physoc.org/news_article/h…