There is no cure or treatment for Long COVID. One in five people who have had COVID report having long COVID symptoms. Symptoms of long COVID include, but are not limited to…
- fatigue, exhaustion after physical or mental effort,
- fever,
- respiratory symptoms, including difficulty breathing or shortness of breath and cough.
Other possible symptoms include:
- neurological symptoms or mental health conditions, including difficulty thinking or concentrating
- headache
- sleep problems
- dizziness when you stand
- pins-and-needles feeling
- loss of smell or taste,
- depression or anxiety
- joint or muscle pain
- heart symptoms or conditions, including chest pain and fast or pounding heartbeat
- digestive symptoms, including diarrhea and stomach pain
- blood clots and blood vessel (vascular) issues, including a blood clot that travels to the lungs from deep veins in the legs and blocks blood flow to the lungs (pulmonary embolism)
- rash and changes in the menstrual cycle
The CDC recently added this to their website… “Emerging evidence suggests that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2),the virus that causes COVID-19 can have lasting effects on nearly every organ and organ system of the body weeks, months, and potentially years after infection (11,12). Documented serious post-COVID-19 conditions include cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, renal, endocrine, hematological, gastrointestinal complications, as well as death.”
This new revelation from the CDC leads me to believe that it is better to not get infected rather than ‘return to normal’ and suffer repeat infections that could result in long COVID.
Professional athletes are not immune to long COVID. Athletes with long COVID are having to slow down and pace themselves to manage their condition. Symptoms spike after exercise. Exercise intolerance is common among long COVID patients.
After the 2021 Superbowl win, Tom Brady the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tested positive for COVID-19 after after the Buccaneers celebrated their Super Bowl championship with a large celebratory parade in the Hillsborough River, Florida. Tom Brady’s father spent 3 weeks in the hospital in a life or death battle with COVID. Tom Brady announced on February 1, 2023 that he is retiring “for good” from football. Are these three events related? Any theories would only be conjecture. It is up to Tom to decided how he and his family want to live a healthy life going forward.
“Football, beer and above all gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.” – George Orwell, 1984.