Exercise Quality and Quantity Affect Immunity

Physical activity is an effective non-drug strategy for preventing and treating chronic diseases.

Engaging in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week, along with muscle-strengthening activities, significantly enhances health.

Regular exercise improves musculoskeletal function, cardiovascular health, sleep, cognition, and immune response. It reduces oxidative stress, enhances energy efficiency, and lowers the incidence of inflammatory diseases by regulating the immune system and increasing overall immunocompetent.

However, excess strenuous activity can become pro-inflammatory and increase the risk of infection. 

Physical activity, inactivity, and health outcomes

Effects of physical inactivity and different intensities of physical exercise on the inflammatory response (IL-6 and neopterin) and health outcome (risk of infection, chronic non-communicable diseases and neuroprotection). MET: metabolic equivalent of task.

Regular physical exercise significantly reduces the risk of all-cause mortality and improves overall lifespan. It protects against chronic diseases like obesity, dementia, and cognitive decline and enhances immune responses, making it effective in preventing infections such as COVID-19.

The benefits of exercise depend on the type, duration, and intensity, with moderate-intensity exercise promoting an anti-inflammatory immune response. Monitoring immune markers in biological fluids can help assess the effectiveness of exercise in managing chronic inflammation.

Optimal Takeaways

• Physical exercise reduces the risk of mortality and improves lifespan.
• Protects against chronic diseases, cognitive decline, and infections.
• Enhances immune responses, promoting an anti-inflammatory state.
• Exercise effectiveness depends on type, intensity, and duration.
• Health benefits can be monitored through biomarkers, including cytokines, CRP, TNF-alpha, neopterin, and irisin.

Reference

Scheffer, Débora da Luz, and Alexandra Latini. “Exercise-induced immune system response: Anti-inflammatory status on peripheral and central organs.” Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of disease vol. 1866,10 (2020): 165823. doi:10.1016/j.bbadis.2020.165823. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre - including this research content - immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories,