Exercise Helps Blunt the Effects of Covid-19, Study Suggests
By Alex Janin, Jan. 16, 2023, WSJ
Exercise improves the body’s immune response by mobilizing and redistributing immune cells that can recognize and kill infected cells, says Richard Simpson, a professor at the University of Arizona whose research focuses on exercise immunology and who
wasn’t involved with the Kaiser Permanente study. Without exercise, viruses have more time to replicate inside our bodies, which can result in more severe symptoms, he says.
Physical activity can also help reduce inflammation, the body’s natural immune response to damage or pathogens. Chronic inflammation has been linked to more severe Covid-19 outcomes, especially in the lungs. Cytokines, small messenger proteins that
help regulate inflammation, are released during exercise.
The study data were collected from the beginning of the pandemic to May 2021, when vaccines were just starting to become more available and before more recent waves of Covid. However, the researchers believe the results of the study are still broadly
applicable.
“Exercise is as effective as many of the drugs that we use and has no side effects,” says Jordan Metzl, a sports medicine physician in New York City who wasn’t involved with the study. “We want to get people taking it every day.”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/exercise-helps-blunt-the-effects-of-covid-19-study-suggests-11673814263
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