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Around 1.2 million people in the UK<\/a> are living with long COVID<\/a> \u2013 a condition where patients still experience symptoms from four weeks to over a year after catching COVID-19.<\/p>\n Some of the symptoms are consistent with what we know about COVID-19. The 39 per cent of long COVID cases that have shortness of breath could be linked to the damage the coronavirus can cause to lungs,<\/a> while a third of people with long COVID still experience the loss of smell<\/a> common with COVID-19 infection.<\/p>\n However, the most common long COVID symptom reported is fatigue, which has made some question whether the condition could in fact be the same as chronic fatigue syndrome<\/a> (CFS).<\/p>\n Also referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), CFS is a long-term condition that makes people experience extreme fatigue, particularly after exercise, in addition to problems sleeping, bodily pain and confusion known as brain fog<\/a>. Scientists still don\u2019t know what causes ME\/CFS, but many patients\u2019 onset of the condition follows infection with a virus or bacteria.<\/p>\n Until now, experts haven\u2019t been able to confidently say whether ME\/CFS is a part of long COVID. But a new study, by researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, has tested 41 patients against ME\/CFS diagnostic criteria<\/a>.<\/p>\n Of the group, 46 per cent had four or more symptoms of ME\/CFS and had experienced a substantial impact to their lives as a result of fatigue. A further 13 long COVID patients met the criteria but were excluded on account of having a large BMI or a cardiac disease.<\/p>\n Read the latest coronavirus news:<\/strong><\/p>\n The team then ran cardiopulmonary exercise tests with the group, to assess how their breathing was affected by activity. Patients were told to pedal on a stationary bicycle until they reached point of exhaustion, while the difficulty was increased by 25 Watts every three minutes.<\/p>\n Nearly all of the patients (36 of 41) showed abnormal breathing \u2013 rapid, shallow breathing similar to that of people with asthma \u2013 and a majority had chronic hyperventilation after the exercise test.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of these patients reported shortness of breath, and the cardiopulmonary exercise test is often used to determine its underlying cause,\u201d explained Dr Donna Mancini<\/a>, professor in the department of cardiology and lead author of the study.<\/p>\n \u201cThese findings suggest that in a subgroup of [long COVID patients], hyperventilation and\/or dysfunctional breathing may underlie their symptoms. This is important, as these abnormalities may be addressed with breathing exercises or \u2018retraining\u2019,\u201d said Mancini.<\/p>\n Mancini said there could be several subsets of patients with long COVID, including those who have ME\/CFS-like symptoms.<\/p>\n