How Exercise Influence the Severe COVID-19 Outcome?

Regular exercise is crucial to lead a long and healthy life despite of our age, sex or level of physical activity. A certified specialist in pulmonary medicine and critical care, Dr. Mike Hansen opens up about the findings of a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that examines the link between exercise and serious COVID-19 illness.

Researchers involved in this study were able to survey more than 48,000 adults who had been diagnosed with Covid between January and November 2020 before the vaccination rollout started.

This survey was made possible because the institute which carried out this study had the practice of determining a patient's exercise "vital sign" by asking how frequently they engage in moderate to strenuous physical activity, and for how long.

Taking account of pre-existing health conditions and physical activity, participants were divided into three groups: those who were active for more than 150 minutes per week, those who were active from 11 to 149 minutes per week, and those who were consistently inactive, with 10 minutes or less of exercise per week.

"The big takeaway from the study is that people who were consistently inactive had a significantly higher risk of hospitalization, ICU admission, and death after getting Covid-19 compared to those who were active for at least 150 minutes per week," says Hansen.

The study results show that middle group participants had some protection against severe illness or death from Covid-19, but not as much as the first group.

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This study is one more reason to encourage and promote exercise for everyone but more studies are needed to confirm these findings.

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Source-Medindia