what started as a catchphrase has become a movement that can no longer be denied. physical activity has been prescribed by more and more physicians as a preventive measure against heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, depression, type 2 diabetes, and breast and colon cancer, and a study published in april in the british journal of sports medicine offered another important example of why exercise is medicine.
“we found that consistently meeting physical activity guidelines was strongly associated with reduced odds for severe covid-19 among infected adults,” said a team of researchers led by robert sallis from the kaiser permanente medical center in california.
it’s already accepted that exercise boosts immunity and that active individuals are less susceptible to viral infections and inflammation, both of which are hallmarks of covid-19. but until recently there was little data linking the healthy effects of exercise to a reduced risk of the life-threatening consequences of covid-19. searching for answers, sallis and his team reviewed the health records of 48,440 individuals who tested positive for covid-19 and were also patients of a health-care system in southern california that routinely collected data on exercise habits.
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in light of these groundbreaking results, it’s ironic that physical activity is one of the lifestyle habits that has changed the most since the start of the pandemic. with gyms and recreation centres closed worldwide for a period of several weeks to several months during all three waves of the pandemic, and outdoor exercise severely curtailed, several studies have revealed that fewer people than ever are getting in 150 minutes of exercise per week. and despite prioritizing the opening of some recreation options after the first wave last spring, too few public health and government officials have been reaffirming the health benefits of getting in 150 minutes of exercise a week — something the researchers suggest should change.
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