Woman Sees Weight Loss After COVID-19 Infection 確診體重降.行動難 診斷為「新冠後肌少症」

A Taichung woman in her 70s became infected with COVID-19 and shortly after lost 10 kilos. She also found it difficult to stand and walk. She was diagnosed with "post COVID-19 sarcopenia." Foreign studies show that the mortality rate is 2.1 times higher than COVID-19 if left untreated.

Seventy-year-old Ms. Wu climbs the stairs slowly, but at least she doesn't need to hold onto the handrail anymore. She became infected with COVID-19 in May, and then lost 10 kilos in one month's time, going from 64 kilos to 54 kilos. At one point, she found it difficult to even stand. She was diagnosed with "post COVID-19 sarcopenia." 

Ms. Wu, Patient: “I kept losing weight after I tested positive. Then about one month ago, I couldn't even stand and I kept feeling I had to sit down.”

China Medical University Hospital says foreign studies show that COVID-19 patients have a 48 percent chance of developing sarcopenia. The mortality rate is 2.1 times higher compared to COVID-19 if it is not actively treated. It's already known that the novel coronavirus attacks the gastrointestinal tract and causes the loss of smell and taste. This will in turn affect the appetite, resulting in acute sarcopenia.

Wu Pei-ching, TCM Practitioner, China Medical University Hospital: “If patients see sudden weight loss, weakened grip strength, and difficulties walking a short time after testing positive for COVID-19, then the possibility of the novel coronavirus causing this is comparatively higher. It takes more than six months for sarcopenia to become chronic.”

Doctors say traditional Chinese medicine classifies sarcopenia as a deficiency syndrome, and milk vetch and codonopsis root can be used to nourish the liver and kidneys. People can also consume foods high in Vitamin D and protein to increase bone strength and muscle mass, and complement this with core exercises to recover muscle strength.

爬階梯步伐雖然慢，但已經能不仰賴扶手，70歲的吳小姐今（2022）年5月確診新冠肺炎，沒想到短短一個月，體重就從64公斤下降到54公斤，一度連站立都成問題，就醫後發現是新冠後肌少症。

吳小姐表示：「確診以後就好像體重一直瘦下去，最近大概一個多月前，好像有時候站起來沒力，就好像要蹲下去這樣。」

中國附醫指出，國外研究顯示新冠肺炎確診後，罹患肌少症的機率為48%，如果不積極治療，死亡率比單純新冠肺炎患者高出2.1倍。目前已知機轉為新冠病毒會攻擊腸胃道，並造成嗅覺、味覺喪失，嚴重影響食慾，因此產生急性肌少症。

中國附醫中醫師吳佩青解釋：「確診新冠之後短時間之內突然體重下降、握力變差、行走速度變差的話，那我們就覺得它是新冠造成的可能性會比較高，慢性的肌少症的話，是一個病程大於6個月的（情況）。」

專家建議，肌少症屬於中醫領域的虛症，可採中醫黃耆、黨參等藥材養肝補腎，飲食可多攝取富含維生素D與蛋白質的食物，增加骨骼強度與肌肉量，最後再搭配緩和的核心肌群運動，就能恢復肌力。