To help people suffering from the after-effects of Covid-19, the Faculties of Physiotherapy and Nutrition of the Salesian University Center are carrying out assistance, both in presence and at a distance, in the Integrated Community Health Care Center (CIASC). The need for care arose after realizing that even after convalescence and recovery from the disease, many patients still experience symptoms such as fatigue when performing very simple activities such as, for example, taking a bath, or shortness of breath, muscle pain, mental confusion... and sometimes they do not even know that these are symptoms associated with the disease and its subsequent course.
For Professor Miriam Paixão, of the Faculty of Nutrition, dietary guidance will help the recovery of these patients. "We believe that offering this accompanying pathway will help the population of Espírito Santo who are not in a position to afford prolonged treatment for full recovery from Covid-19."
"The patient, after being intubated, does indeed need attention with regard to diet," she further adds. "And nutritional orientations can help in the improvement of other symptoms such as weight regain and increased muscle mass, against hair loss and weakened nails, muscle fatigue, joint pain and many other problems that may be associated with chronic diseases that individuals already previously could suffer. In addition, adjusting the consistency of the diet can be a simple guideline that can already ensure that there is an improvement in the nutritional status and health of the individual who has passed through this disease."
The services are free and bookable with a simple phone call. They include: respiratory, motor, neurological and metabolic physiotherapy, as well as the accompanying pathway for patients who have been intubated and present dysphagia, reflux, dyspnea, hair loss, alteration of the gastrointestinal tract, weight loss, joint pain or weakened nails.
