To Your Health
April, 2020 (Vol. 14, Issue 04) |
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Exercise for COVID-19 Protection?
By Editorial Staff
Researchers are working around the clock to find a medication that can help treat the novel coronavirus; and to find a vaccine that can help prevent it. Could something as simple, readily available and natural be part of the solution, at least when it comes to reducing the risk of developing one of the major complications of COVID-19? The answer is yes, suggest researchers.
Extracellular superoxide dismutase is an antioxidant produced naturally by the muscles, but its production is increased with cardiovascular exercise. This antioxidant helps protect the body from oxidative stress and damage, which gives it promise in treating / preventing myriad disease processes. This could include a major complication associated with COVID-19 infection: acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).
Writing on their findings in Redox Biology, researchers concluded: "The facts that EcSOD expression is promoted by endurance exercise in skeletal muscle and can be redistributed to other vital tissues to protect the target tissues against oxidative damage in various pathological processes ... strongly support exercise-induced EcSOD as an effective therapeutic intervention for prevention and treatment of numerous oxidative stress-related diseases."
Note: While exercise in general has an immune-boosting effect, not to mention increased production of EcSOD, too much at once, or too much in general, can actually reduce immune function, at least temporarily. As with just about anything in life, moderation is the key.
