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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – I’ve always maintained that “Exercise is a Natural Medicine” vital to our health and well being, and every day we do hear about the health benefits to our engaging in a regular exercise program. Being active is in our genes going back to prehistoric man who hunted for his food (he definitely didn’t use a remote control or a phone for food delivery!), and in fact, exercise affects every body system. This week, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of exercise to our immune system, because there are many!
This season, the hot topic is the seasonal and swine flu, vaccinations, and of course, how to lower our risk for getting sick. “October is also Breast Cancer Month”, and I’d like to suggest that we can strengthen our immune system, and strengthen our immune response to pathogens (bacteria and viruses) by exercising regularly. Regular moderate exercise does strengthen our immune system directly and indirectly, so let’s take a look at how.
Exercise will
Aid our Immune System Function Directly. Regular moderate exercise has been shown in many studies to increase the production and proliferation of key immune cells, which of course fight disease and it may play a role in reoccurrence of cancer! In a meta-analysis published by the American Cancer Society in Cancer 2002, researchers set out to provide a comprehensive review of the existing literature examining exercise and immune function in cancer survivors. The authors reported that after examining 6 empirical articles published between 1994 and 2000, the majority of these studies reported a statistically significant improvement in several cancer related immune system components as a result of regular moderate exercise (please note marthon runners, we are not referring to intense exercise). While they report a need for future research, they also reported exercise as a benefit to cancer survivors particularly, because exercise itself confers many other health benefits ( keep reading!).
Help to reduce the negative effects of stress. Stress hormones suppress immune function, especially chronic stress. In one study using rats which were stress-induced immunosuppressed, there was a significant effect of exercise’s direct benefit. The conclusion drawn was that “physically active organisms are more resistant to the negative effects of stress on the immune system”, and that their data adds to the growing literature that physically active organisms are more stress-resistant than sedentary animals and human animals alike. In another research study these findings were confirmed; the conclusion drawn was that regular regular physical activity even in older men was associated with a more robust immune reaponse to novel pathogens, and in this study, they saw these effects in one month. Another example of exercise’s direct effect on our immune system. The type of exercise was moderate endurance training (cycling).
Boost energy levels that even the healthiest of us need from time to time. Light to moderate exercise may also benefit us when we are fighting a disease such as cancer, mild colds and infections as well. In a Meta-analysis conducted on 57 RCT (random controlled trials), there was a strong indication that exercise (along with other interventions such as psychological counseling for cancer patients) provided reductions in cancer related fatigue, a significant problem reported by cancer patients. Higher energy, higher mood, all contribute to a healthier immune system. One hypothesis is that raising our body temperature by exercising, mimics a fever, an immune system response to invading bugs.
Strengthen our cardiovascular system including our heart (our heart is a muscle). Exercise helps to maintain the elasticity of our blood vessels, helps to to increase our circulation and delivery of oxygen, and nutrients to our body and brain (this enhances our musculoskeletal system’s daily functioning, not to mention lowering our cardiovascular disease risk) while removing metabolic waste along with the debri of dead bacteria and dead immune cells. The strengthening of our cardiovascular system aids the healing process from injuries, and aids our recovery from illness, an indirect benefit to our immune system function.
Help to improve our mental and emotional processes. When we naturally increase our circulation, energy levels, daily functioning, and overall health, we improve our ability to think. We provide ourselves with a healthy stress coping tool when we engage in a regular exercise program. We can improve our sleep and naturally improve our mood too. Exercise has been shown to be as effective as some medications to relieve mild depression; it’s free and as long as we exercise safely, it’s without negative side effects. Lastly according to my source, for every hour we exercise, there is a two hour increase added to our life (one reason is that a stronger heart doesn’t work as hard and doesn’t have to produce as many heart beats over a lifetime!). Isn’t this a great example of anti-aging too?
A regular exercise program can help us to prevent disease, but it can also give us a head start to fight disease, by our having a healthier and stronger body state as a baseline. The meta-analysis study also showed the highest benefit for more than 7 hours of exercise per week, which amounts to a drop more than an hour a day. Another conclusion reached from this study, was that the number of days with symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections was reduced in women in the exercise groups relative to those in the nonexercising group. I do want to note that high intense exercise such as marathon running, and professional athletic- type training is not included, so the “more is better” concept is not necessarily applicable here.
So, can we go wrong starting and maintaining a regular exercise program as part of taking care of our health? I definitely think we can’t!
Here’s to Exercise for a Stronger Immune System!
June M Lay M.S.
June Fit
Junefit is included in Google’s top ranked women’s health resources, scroll midway http://directory.google.com/Top/Health/Women’s_Health/Resources/
June is Lifestyle Columnist at www.healthnewsdigest.com/
Sources:
Kangas M. et. al.; Cancer-related fatigue: A systematic and meta-analytic review of non-pharmacological therapies for cancer patients. Psychol Bull. 2008 Sep;134(5):700-41.Reported in Pubmed 18729569
Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Breast Cancer in Medscape General Medicine October 2000
Taro P. Smith, Sarah L. Kennedy, Monika Fleshner, Influence of age and physical activity on the primary in vivo antibody and T cell-mediated responses in men, in Appl Physiol 97: 491-498, 2004
Monika Fleshner Physical Activity and Stress Resistance: Sympathetic Nervous System Adaptations Prevent Stress-Induced Immunosuppression From Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, August 2005
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