If you are facing breathing problems after covid during the day, also check if you are not able to sleep properly as researchers have now discovered that there is a higher risk of sleep disorders in hospitalized patients with covid. Disturbances in the pattern were likely to cause breathlessness.
The study of patients at 38 institutions across the UK, led by the University of Manchester and Leicester, found that 62 per cent of Covid patients had sleep disturbances, which were likely to last for at least 12 months.
The study, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, has highlighted for the first time a link between two post-Covid condition symptoms: breathlessness and sleep disturbance.
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On average, participants who were hospitalized with COVID-19 slept more than an hour longer, but their sleep patterns were less regular (19 percent decrease on the sleep regularity scale) than matched participants. ) who were admitted to the hospital for any reason.
The researchers also found that participants with sleep disturbances were more likely to have anxiety and muscle weakness, symptoms of the common post-Covid-19 condition.
“The study suggests that sleep disturbance may be a significant driver of post-Covid shortness of breath – or dyspnoea – due to its association with reduced muscle function and anxiety,” said a clinical professor at the University of Manchester. Scientist and respiratory therapist Dr. John Blakely said. ,
Sleep disturbance was likely directly related to breathlessness, but it also reduced muscle function and increased anxiety, both recognized causes of breathlessness, partially mediating the association between sleep disturbance and breathlessness. Can
The authors speculate that targeting sleep disruption by reducing anxiety and improving muscle strength in these patients may reduce shortness of breath, but further investigation is needed.
Understanding the causes of breathlessness is complex because it can result from conditions that affect the respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, and mental health systems.
“Our findings suggest that sleep disturbance is a common problem following hospitalization for Covid-19 and is associated with shortness of breath. We also show that it is likely to persist for at least 12 months , said first study author Calum Jackson of the University of Manchester.