Sometimes, it seems as if exercise is a cure-all. Walking is important to speed your recovery in the hospital, among other reasons, and aerobic exercise has many other benefits. Gretchen Reynolds reports for The New York Times on a new study that finds exercise could improve the efficacy of a vaccine, be it a Covid-19 vaccine or a flu vaccine.
All kinds of exercise could help improve your immunity after a vaccine. For example, walking, biking and jogging are all helpful for raising people’s antibodies after having a vaccine.
The study measured people’s antibodies after engaging in a range of different aerobic activity for 90 minutes following a vaccine. People who exercised produced a higher degree of interferon alpha, which increases your antibodies. The researchers believe that these additional antibodies from exercising reduces people’s risk of getting really sick after a flu shot or Covid-19 vaccine. Notably, exercise did not appear to bring more side effects or reduce side effects.
The study was conducted on 70 people and needs to be expanded to a much larger cohort to learn more. Still, it appears that physical fitness and daily exercise helps strengthen our bodies to ward off illness. Exercise transforms the way immune cells in our bodies operate, for the better.
To date, data show that physical activity protects people against all sorts of mild respiratory infections. And, when people in good shape fall ill, being physically fit can reduce the seriousness of the illness.
A recent study of nearly 50,000 people with Covid-19 in California determined that the Californians who were not physically fit and had not been exercising before getting Covid-19 were around twice as likely to be hospitalized as their counterparts who were fit and active.
Don’t feel like exercising after getting a vaccine? Try moving your arm a lot before getting the shot. One recent study found that moving your arm before a vaccine also increased antibody levels and specialized immune cells.
What’s the right amount of exercise? We don’t yet know.The researchers found that 45 minutes was not enough to boost antibodies to a statistically significant degree. But, 90 minutes of exercise was. They did not measure the effects of 60 minutes of exercise.
However, it’s not clear that excessive exercise is beneficial. Some data suggest it could undermine immunity. But, we’re talking marathoners, so most of us have no need to worry about excess.
How long will exercise help with antibody levels and stronger immune responses? More research is needed. This study only measured people’s responses after one month.
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