New research suggests that exercise can be protected from severe COVID-19 – NECN

Existing medical conditions such as the following are well known Diabetes, High blood pressure And obesity increase the risk of severe COVID-19. Currently, new studies suggest that there may be other risk factors: inactivity.

In this study, which analyzed the results of COVID-19 in approximately 50,000 Californians who received health care at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, patients who were not consistently active were those who were consistently followed. By comparison, we found that the risk of hospitalization and death was more than doubled. Physical activity guidelines, According to a report published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

“The main take-out message from this study is that physical activity is the most modifiable risk factor for serious COVID outcomes, such as hospitalization, being sent to the intensive care unit, or the possibility of death.” And the lead author of the study, Dr. Robert Salis is a physician in family medicine and sports medicine at Kaiser Permanente in Fontana, California, and a clinical professor of family medicine at the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine.

To investigate the potential impact of exercise on the risk of severe COVID-19, Salis and his colleagues asked two questions about typical exercise habits over the past two months, with the healthcare provider Kaiser. We reviewed the medical records of 48,440 adults who received regular medical records. .. Researchers categorized men and women into three groups according to the amount of physical activity they reported. Regular activities for a total of 11-149 minutes per week. Consistently inactive. In other words, there is less than 10 minutes of exercise per week.

In an analysis that considers factors such as gender, race / ethnicity, smoking status, diabetes, body mass index, and blood pressure, researchers found that patients who were not consistently active were 2.26 times more likely to be hospitalized. I judged that the sex was 1.73 times. Compared to patients who consistently meet exercise guidelines, ICU and 2.49 times more likely to die.

Salis says that by adopting all of these, people can protect themselves from the serious COVID-19. 30 minutes walking program a day, 5 times a week. But how does he explain the serious consequences among those who were healthy before getting sick?

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He said there are other factors besides lifestyle that affect behavior when infected with SARS-CoV-2. “But I believe lifestyle is a very important factor,” he added.

What about the best fit marathon and ultramarathon runners?

In essence, Salis said, it’s a matter of too many good things. “There is plenty of data suggesting that marathon runners, and other runners engaged in extreme endurance events, may actually have some degree of immune function impairment after training or high-level competition.” He explained. “Studies show that people are at higher risk of colds and flu than those exercising at a milder level, so extreme endurance training and events should be avoided during a pandemic. There were some concerns and recommendations. “

Not everyone is convinced that Salis’s study avoids severe COVID-19 by initiating an exercise program.

“It’s really good, but the correlation isn’t causal,” said David Putrino, director of rehabilitation and innovation at Mount Sinai Health System in New York. “From this study, we don’t know if physical activity is protective or protective,” Putrino added. He added that non-exercise people may have something in common that may explain their increased risk of severe illness beyond lack of activity.

In addition, Putrino said Salis was only talking about the direct effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection. “There are many people who were previously healthy and healthy. Some of them have relatively mild COVID-19 and are experiencing persistent symptoms that have a significant impact on quality of life and work ability. “I will,” he added. “Some are really terribly debilitated.”

According to Putrino, many healthcare professionals are focusing on the number of people infected with the virus, the number of people who died, and the number of people who recovered. “What appears in the medical literature is that physically active and very healthy people are not protected from the risk of developing post-acute COVID symptoms. We call these people recovered. Should I? “

“We have about 10-35% of people Onset persistent symptoms I think that’s a really important point, “Putrino said. “These patients need to be counted and we are not currently doing a great job with it.”

This story first appeared TODAY.com.. More from today: