Daily exercise may lower Covid infection, severity risk

If you exercise regularly, then chances are you have a lower risk of infection and severity of covid-19, including hospitalization and death, according to a new study.

The study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, suggests that a weekly count of 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity, appears to provide the best protection.

“Our findings highlight the protective effects of engaging in sufficient physical activity as a public health strategy, with potential benefits in reducing the risk of severe covid-19,” said researchers, including Yasmin Ezzatvar of the University of Valencia in Spain.

For the study, the team searched three major research databases for relevant studies published between November 2019 and March 2022, and from an initial search of 291, gathered the results of 16.

The studies included 1,853,610 adults, just over half of whom (54 percent) were women. The average age of the participants was 53 years.

Most of the studies were observational and took place in South Korea, England, Iran, Canada, UK, Spain, Brazil, Palestine, South Africa, and Sweden.

Analysis of pooled data showed that, overall, those who included regular physical activity in their weekly routine had an 11 percent lower risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19.

They also had a 36% lower risk of hospital admission, a 44% lower risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and a 43% lower risk of death from COVID-19 than their physically inactive peers.

The maximum protective effect occurred around 500 minutes per week of metabolic equivalent of task (MET), after which there was no further improvement.

The researchers caution that the analysis included observational studies, different study designs, subjective assessments of physical activity levels, and referred only to Beta and Delta variants of SARS-CoV-2 rather than Omicron, all of which may weaken the data. findings.