Exercise is known to have a profound impact on the normal functioning of the immune system and exercise can protect us from infection by boosting immunity. What do you think?
I think it is positive. Is there any study on the average life expectancy of Olympic athlete？
Dear Harasit Kumar Paul Physical activity may help flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways. This may reduce your chance of getting a cold, flu, or other illness. Exercise causes change in antibodies and white blood cells (WBC). WBCs are the body's immune system cells that fight disease. Details can be found by hitting the below mentioned links:
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007165.htm#:~:text=Physical%20activity%20may%20help%20flush,system%20cells%20that%20fight%20disease.
Article The compelling link between physical activity and the body's...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK230961/
To my opinion, there exists a strong positive association between physical activity and immunity.
Thanks!
Like Arbind, I believe that exercise is cleaning process of body. Removing excess salts and burn fats which accumulate toxins.
Dear Arbind K. Choudhary thanks for your great contribution and the valued links you shared. You have mentioned that there exists a strong positive association between physical activity and immunity. I realize your viewpoints.
Dear Bruce Robin Nyamweha and Mila Ilieva
thanks for your comments. I appreciate your efforts.
Junjie Shao: In my opinion, a person with physical activity and the lifestyle of an Olympic athlete is not the same at all.
Impacts of physical activities, in general, are in favor of boosting the immune system. Some are direct and others are indirect. Physical activity is a free radical scavenger, preventer of many pulmonary, cardio- and cerebrovascular, endocrine, metabolic, and other multisystemic diseases.
Yes, there is association in between physical activity and immune function in our body. Physical activity increase the blood circulation and movement of our whole body that creates antibody to fight against any kind of disease or enemy.
Dear Md Rabiul Alam thanks for your excellent contribution. You have mentioned physical activity is a preventer of many pulmonary, cardio- and cerebrovascular, endocrine, metabolic, and other multisystemic diseases. This is a good piece of information. Would you please add links/documents that support your viewpoints?
Dear Md. Abul Kalam Azad thanks for your valued comments. I acknowledge your useful addition to the discussion.
Physical activity may help flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways. This may reduce your chance of getting a cold, flu, or other illness. Exercise causes change in antibodies and white blood cells (WBC). WBCs are the body's immune system cells that fight disease.
Exercise and immunity: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia
medlineplus.gov › Medical Encyclopedia
Just like a healthy diet, exercise can contribute to general good health and therefore to a healthy immune system. It may contribute even more directly by promoting good circulation, which allows the cells and substances of the immune system to move through the body freely and do their job efficiently.
How to boost your immune system - Harvard Health
www.health.harvard.edu › staying-healthy › how-to-boost..
Dear Aijaz Panhwar thanks for your answer. Thanks for your interest in the topic.
Thanks Lamia Mustafa Al-Naama for your great contribution and the link you shared. You have added a piece of good information that exercise causes a change in antibodies and white blood cells (WBC). I realize your viewpoints.
Thanks Lamia Mustafa Al-Naama for your nice response and the link you shared. You have well said that exercise can contribute to good general health and therefore to a healthy immune system. I appreciate your contribution.
I definitely can confirm that there are studies showing a positive impact of exercise on health; however, as with many x-y correlates, there is an inverted-U phenomenon. After a certain level, I believe some studies have shown increased corticoid levels in the blood.
When I have some spare time, I'll find some studies on both extremes.
Dear Joshua Nicholls thanks for your response. I appreciate your interest in the topic.
Physical activity is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to maintain a healthy immune system. Scientists have long found a link between exercising regularly and reducing disease.
The numbers suggest that the average adult gets colds about two and a half times a year. Various viruses affect the human body regularly, but some people are more resistant.
How to be among them and not overdo it with physical activity?
Loads stimulate ...
You can see that people who started jogging regularly stop getting sick often. Researchers say that just five regular exercise sessions a week reduces the chance of catching a cold by 43 to 46 percent.
Scientists suggest that regular, moderate physical activity stimulates the immune system, prompting it to increase the production of macrophages. These cells attack viruses and bacteria that have entered the body.
... accelerate ...
Recent studies show that exercising allows the immune system to "accelerate" in the truest sense of the word.
During physical activity, the rate of circulating blood increases. Therefore, immune cells quickly enter all tissues and organs. This means that they react faster to pathogens.
Scientists also noticed that a few hours after a surge in physical activity, the quality of the immune system decreases to normal values. This suggests that regularity is essential for a healthy workout.
... cleanse
According to another theory, physical activity allows you to remove harmful microorganisms from the body purely mechanically. This is due to the fact that breathing becomes deeper and faster during training.
Thus, viruses and bacteria are removed much more intensively from the respiratory tract, which is considered the main gateway for infection.
In addition, scientists suggest that the increase in body temperature that occurs during exercise helps in the fight against infectious agents.
Know when to stop
At the same time, experts note that excessive physical activity reduces immunity. So, for example, an intense training session lasting more than an hour and a half makes a person more susceptible to illness for another three days.
Scientists believe that severe stress lowers the function of the immune system and increases the risk of getting sick three to six times.
Studies show that during excessive exercise, the body produces stress hormones - cortisol and adrenaline, which not only suppress the immune system, but also increase blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels.
Scientists have found this effect in athletes after a marathon.
Don't forget to recover
If you are training vigorously, make sure you get enough rest after that the immune system has time to recover with the muscles. This is especially important in the winter period, which is dangerous due to epidemics of influenza and ARVI.
At the first sign of overtraining: constant fatigue, increased resting heart rate, muscle soreness, reduce the intensity of your training.
Sports are not friendly with colds
It is not uncommon for beginners and more experienced sports enthusiasts to ignore the mild symptoms of a cold and continue to exercise, even if they have a cough and a stuffy nose.
Remember that even a common runny nose puts a strain on the immune system. Consequently, serious physical activity during the period of fighting infection becomes additional stress, delaying recovery.
However, scientists say that if high fever and signs of serious damage to the respiratory system are not observed, light exercise in the form of walking will benefit the immune system.
But it is better to refuse to visit the gym on such days: you can infect others and get sick yourself.
Regards, Sergey Viktorovich Pushkin
Physical activity may help flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways. This may reduce your chance of getting a cold, flu, or other illness. Exercise causes change in antibodies and white blood cells (WBC). WBCs are the body's immune system cells that fight disease.
Acute exercise is an immune system adjuvant that improves defense activity ... a clear inverse relationship between moderate exercise training and illness risk.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44693949_Physical_activity_immunity_and_infection
Dear Carine Temegne Nono thanks for your answer. With a single word, you have expressed many things.
Dear Sergey Viktorovich Pushkin thanks for your great contribution. You have well said that physical activity is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to maintain a healthy immune system. I acknowledge your response.
Dear Sergey Viktorovich Pushkin, you have mentioned that excessive physical activity reduces immunity. An intense training session lasting more than an hour and a half makes a person more susceptible to illness for another three days. Would you please share a link as a source of this information?
I appreciate your efforts to make the discussion lively.
Dear Faraed Salman thanks for your comments. I acknowledge your point of view that there is an inverse relationship between moderate exercise training and illness risk.
Snatched this from Wikipedia (which, I know, is not an academic source):
Although there have been hundreds of studies on physical exercise and the immune system, there is little direct evidence on its connection to illness.[28] Epidemiological evidence suggests that moderate exercise has a beneficial effect on the human immune system; an effect which is modeled in a J curve. Moderate exercise has been associated with a 29% decreased incidence of upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), but studies of marathon runners found that their prolonged high-intensity exercise was associated with an increased risk of infection occurrence.[28] However, another study did not find the effect. Immune cell functions are impaired following acute sessions of prolonged, high-intensity exercise, and some studies have found that athletes are at a higher risk for infections. Studies have shown that strenuous stress for long durations, such as training for a marathon, can suppress the immune system by decreasing the concentration of lymphocytes.[29] The immune systems of athletes and nonathletes are generally similar. Athletes may have a slightly elevated natural killer cell count and cytolytic action, but these are unlikely to be clinically significant.[28]
Vitamin C supplementation has been associated with a lower incidence of upper respiratory tract infections in marathon runners.[28]
Biomarkers of inflammation such as C-reactive protein, which are associated with chronic diseases, are reduced in active individuals relative to sedentary individuals, and the positive effects of exercise may be due to its anti-inflammatory effects. In individuals with heart disease, exercise interventions lower blood levels of fibrinogen and C-reactive protein, an important cardiovascular risk marker.[30] The depression in the immune system following acute bouts of exercise may be one of the mechanisms for this anti-inflammatory effect.[28]
BUT, here are their references for verification:
[28] Gleeson M (August 2007). "Immune function in sport and exercise". J. Appl. Physiol. 103 (2): 693–99.
[29] Goodman, C. C.; Kapasi, Z.F. (2002). "The effect of exercise on the immune system". Rehabilitation Oncology. 20: 13–15
[30 ] Swardfager W (2012). "Exercise intervention and inflammatory markers in coronary artery disease: a meta-analysis". Am. Heart J. 163 (4): 666–76.
Dear sir Dr Harasit Kumar Paul
Article Physical activity, immunity and infection
- Physical activity may help flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways. This may reduce your chance of getting a cold, flu, or other illness.
- Exercise causes change in antibodies and white blood cells (WBC). WBCs are the body's immune system cells that fight disease. These antibodies or WBCs circulate more rapidly, so they could detect illnesses earlier than they might have before. However, no one knows whether these changes help prevent infections.
Dear Joshua Nicholls thanks for your nice contribution. I think these are good pieces of information that immune cell functions are impaired following acute sessions of prolonged, high-intensity exercise, and some studies have found that athletes are at a higher risk for infections. I appreciate your response.
Dear Rasha Majid Abd Ulameer Alhumairi thanks for sharing the link. I appreciate your efforts.
Dear Kamal M Alsaad thanks for your valued contribution. I acknowledge your additions to the discussion.
It is all about the fluid balance, so to some extent it is effective.
There is a compelling link between physical activity and the body's defense system
Dear Omkar Singh Kushwaha , Raya Al-Naimi thanks for your valued comments. I acknowledge your thoughts.
Dear Anwar A. Abdulla thanks for the useful link you shared. Certainly, I would go through it.
Dear paul HK more is not always better in other words excersice is not always give bost to the immune system.
Exercise can have both a positive and negative effect on the functioning of the immune system and can influence a person’s vulnerability to infection. Some researchers detect a link between moderate regular exercise and reduced frequency of uper respiratory tract infection compared with an inactive state and also with excessive amounts of exercise and an increased risk of upper respiratory tract infection.
Therefore excersice in moderation is recommended for better immune functioning.
بالحقيقه ان ممارسه النشاطات الرياضية والبدنيه كافة تقوي المناعه ضدالكثير من الاراض وذلك عن طريق لتعرق الذي يصاحب المجهود البدني ففي اثناء التعرق سيتم طرح المثير من الفيروسات مع العرق خارج الجسم وبذلك يضعف تاثير الفايروس على جسم الرياضي لتناقص اعاد هذا الفايروس داخل الجسم وسيزيد من قوة المناعه والمقاومه ضد اغلب الفايروسات ومنها فايروس كوفيد 19 او ما يسما بال كورونا
Dear Zainab Waleed Aziz thanks for your nice contribution. You have mentioned that there is a link between moderate regular exercise and reduced frequency of upper respiratory tract infection compared with an inactive state and also with excessive amounts of exercise and an increased risk of upper respiratory tract infection. I appreciate it. Would you please share links/documents that support your comments?
عزيزي ثناء فاروق شكرا لمساهمتك القيمة. أنا أقدر ذلك.
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Dear Thanaa Faruq thanks for your valuable contribution. I appreciate it.
عزيزي منسيل كوثر شكرا لردكم. لقد ذكرت أن النشاط البدني المنتظم له تأثير إيجابي على المناعة والأداء الوظيفي. أنا أقر برأيك.
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Dear Menassel Kawther
thanks for your response. You have mentioned regular physical activity has a positive effect on immunity and functional performance. I acknowledge your view.
Dear Paul HK
those are 2 References that may be of benefit and support my opnion:
Gleeson M, Bishop NC and Walsh NP (2013) Exercise Immunology. London: Routledge (Taylor and Francis). ISBN 978-0-415-50725-7 (Hb); 978-0-415-50726-4 (Pb); 978-0-203-12641-7 (Ebook).
Nieman DC, Henson DA, Austin MD and Sha W (2011) Upper respiratory tract infection is reduced in physically fit and active adults. British Journal of Sports Medicine 45:987-992.
Dear Zainab Waleed Aziz thanks for adding the references. I appreciate your efforts. You are welcome.
Physical activity and exercise help help boost the immune system as exercises are considered as an immune system adjuvant that improves defense activity and metabolic health.
Dear Raya Al-Naimi, I appreciate your valued response. You have well said that exercise improves defense activity and metabolic health.
Dear Suhad Mohammed thanks for the shared link. I appreciate your efforts.
Dear Rasha Majid Abd Ulameer Alhumairi thanks for your response. With only a single word you have expressed a lot.
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007165.htm#:~:text=Physical%20activity%20may%20help%20flush,system%20cells%20that%20fight%20disease. Harasit Kumar Paul
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system Harasit Kumar Paul
Dear G. Stephen thanks for the shared links. Though these links are sheared earlier, I appreciate your efforts.
Harasit Kumar Paul
Dear Doctor,
I have an opinion about the topic that you have started the discussion on, although I must confess in the beginning that I am not a very qualified person to hold this opinion.
When I am exercising, my body is working fine. Suppose, I exercise for 30 minutes per day. As a result of this my body works fine. Now how long will the positive effect of exercising go on. Say for 5 hours. But what will happen during the rest of the day? Will my body work fine?
I thought that we do not exercise for the body primarily. We exercise for the mind. I don't know why, but I have seen that people who exercise regularly are usually very happy. And, happy people are most of the time healthy.
To sum up, I want to say that exercising keeps us happy. A happy mind keeps our immunity function at its best. So, yes, there is an indirect connection between regular physical activity and our immune function.
Thank you.
Best regards,
Annamitra.
Dear Harasit Kumar Paul
I think there is a positive association between them. PA helps to improve the immune function as well
بالحقيقه ان المناعه لدى جسم الانسان ترتبط بعدة عوامل منها النشاط البدني الصحي فبممارسة الرياضه مثلا سيحدث تعرق غزير للجسم مما يؤدي الى كرح كثير من الفيروسات مع العرق خارج الجسم وذلك يضعف الفايروس ويقوي مناعة الجسم وذلم بالتفوق العجدي للاجسام المناعية على نسبة الفيروسات ومن هذه الفيروسات كوفيد 19
Dear Anamitra Roy thanks for your nice contribution. You have well-said that exercising keeps us happy and a happy mind keeps our immune function at its best. It is appreciable.
Dear Md. Alauddin thanks for your valued comments. I acknowledge your efforts.
عزيزتي ثناء فاروق أشكرك على ردك الجميل. اقدر مجهودك.
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Dear Thanaa Farouk, thank you for your kind response. I appreciate your effort
Dear Musharof Hossain, thanks for your contribution. I acknowledge your efforts.
Harasit Kumar Paul
Physical activity may help flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways. This may reduce your chance of getting a cold, flu, or other illness. Exercise causes a change in antibodies and white blood cells (WBC). WBCs are the body's immune system cells that fight disease.
Dear Nirmala S.V.S.G thanks for your nice contribution. I appreciate your thoughts.
Yes! Please go through the following RG links.
Article Debunking the Myth of Exercise-Induced Immune Suppression: R...
Article Physical exercise as a tool to help the immune system agains...
Arvind Singh, thanks for your response and the valued links you shared. These could be very useful to me. I acknowledge your efforts.
Yes Dear , there are strong correlation due to reduce stress factors that produced during metabolism
Physical activity may help flush bacteria out of the lungs and airways. This may reduce your chance of getting a cold, flu, or other illness. Exercise causes change in antibodies and white blood cells (WBC). WBCs are the body's immune system cells that fight disease. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/007165.htm
Just like a healthy diet, exercise can contribute to general good health and therefore to a healthy immune system. It may contribute even more directly by promoting good circulation, which allows the cells and substances of the immune system to move through the body freely and do their job efficiently. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-to-boost-your-immune-system
Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance. Exercise delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. And when your heart and lung health improve, you have more energy to tackle daily chores. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389
Exercise increases your heart rate and helps pump more blood through your system, which is also what raises your core temperature. Regular exercise makes your heart stronger and more efficient. Over time it reduces your resting heart rate by 5-25 beats per minute. Endorphins are released. https://www.healthdesigns.net/how-exercise-benefits-the-body/
Dear Chinaza Godswill Awuchi, thanks for your excellent contribution. I acknowledge the viewpoints you shared.
Dear ABDUL Aziz, thanks for your concurrence with Chinaza Godswill Awuchi.
Lack of physical activity is a major risk factor for diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.
Physical activity has major health benefits and helps prevent disease.
More than 80% of the world's adolescents suffer from a lack of physical activity.
Physical inactivity (lack of physical activity) ranks fourth in the world among the main risk factors for mortality.
Physical activity helps you maintain a healthy weight.
Physical activity combined with balanced diet will help improve immunity.
Harasit Kumar Paul , this can be a helpful link:
Chapter Exercise and the Regulation of Immune Functions
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