Research suggests that a sedentary lifestyle doubles a coronavirus patient’s risk of dying from the infection.
Physical inactivity can cause many conditions that are known to aggravate coronavirus complications, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
With the impact of exercise itself less clear, medics from the Kaiser Permanent Medical Center in California analyzed more than 48,000 adults with the infection.
The results showed that those who were ‘consistently inactive’ during the two years leading up to the pandemic were more than twice as likely to die than the patients who recommended it.
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Physical inactivity was second in age and underwent an organ transplant when it came to the risk of serious complications, smoking, and “virtually all chronic diseases studied.”
Although it is unclear exactly why it may occur, regular physical activity has been linked to a stronger immune response and lower levels of inflammation; a major driver of the coronavirus-related disease COVID-19.
The NHS recommends that adults be active every day, aiming for at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of intense exercise per week.
Exercising regularly is associated with a lower rate of viral respiratory infections in general, as well as less “intense” symptoms, the medics write in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
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Global exclusions have forced gyms to close, and Britons are also only allowed to exercise outdoors once a day during the first restriction in the UK.
To better understand the link between physical activity and coronavirus complications, Kaiser medics analyzed the electronic health records of tens of thousands of people – average age 47 – who contracted the infection between January 1 and October 21, 2020.
Just under two-thirds (62%) of the participants were women. Statistics have repeatedly noted that men are a risk factor for coronavirus complications.
The participants’ average body mass index was 31, classified as obese.
Nearly one in five (18%) had an underlying health problem, while nearly a third (32%) had at least two medical conditions.
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The participants’ physical activity levels were recorded at least three times between March 2018 and March 2020.
Being “consistently inactive” was defined as doing no exercise, or only 10 minutes a week. ‘Some activities’ are defined as 11 to 149 minutes per week, while ‘consistently adhere to the guidelines’ are defined as exercising 150 minutes or longer every seven days.
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The results show that the patients who were consistently inactive were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized or die with the coronavirus as those who adhered to the exercise guidelines.
They were also 73% more likely to be admitted to intensive care.
Compared to the patients who did physical activity, those who did nothing consistently were 20% more likely to be admitted to hospital, 10% more likely to be admitted to intensive care and 32% more likely to be admitted to the hospital. coronavirus to die.
The results were applied after adjustment for other factors associated with coronavirus complications, such as age and a non-white ethnicity.
The medics emphasized that their study was acting, and therefore did not prove cause and effect. The participants also reported their activity level themselves, leaving room for inaccuracies.
Nevertheless, the medics added: ‘It is striking that a constant inactivity was a stronger risk factor for severe COVID-19 outcomes than any underlying medical condition and [the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention], except age and a history of organ transplantation.
‘In fact, physical inactivity was the strongest risk factor in all outcomes, compared to the commonly cited modifiable risk factors, including smoking, obesity, diabetes, hypertension. [high blood pressure], cardiovascular disease and cancer.
‘We recommend that public health authorities notify all populations that vaccination is short and that they follow public health safety guidelines, such as social removal and mask use, which are regularly [physical activity] may be the most important action individuals can take to prevent severe COVID-19 and its complications, including death.
‘This message is particularly important, given the growing barriers to regularity [physical activity] during lock-in and other pandemic restrictions. “
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