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Long COVID exercise trials proposed by NIH raise alarm

Advocates ask the US biomedical agency to rethink the design of its RECOVER initiative, citing possible harm and funding waste.
By
  1. Rachel Fairbank

Patients and patient advocates are calling on the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reconsider its decision to include exercise trials in its RECOVER initiative, which aims to study and find treatments for long COVID. They argue that a large proportion of people with long COVID have reported experiencing post-exertional malaise (PEM) — a worsening of symptoms such as fatigue, difficulty regulating body temperature and cognitive dysfunction, after even light exercise — and worry that putting certain RECOVER participants through exercise trials could cause them harm. In a petition and multiple letters, the advocates request that the NIH and affiliated physicians explain their rationale for this testing and share the trial protocols.

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Nature 616, 228-229 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00900-w

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