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A heartwarming walk a day. It doesn’t take more than that to increase your chances of surviving a serious illness from COVID-19.
By getting started and moving around, you can improve your chances of not getting seriously ill from covid-19. A brisk walk a day is enough to start. Stock Photography.
Already at the beginning of the pandemic, former state epidemiologist Johan Giesecke said that the new coronavirus would affect “those who run too slow” to the worst. That is, the old and the weak. Today we know that older people and people with underlying illnesses are at significantly higher risk of serious illness and death.
We can’t do much about aging, but Giesecke has also been shown to become quite a bit more literal, insofar as people in poor physical condition are at a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19, compared to older people. shape.
For example, a large UK study of more than 300,000 middle-aged women and men shows that lifestyle factors, including physical activity, affect the risk of being hospitalized due to COVID-19 by a factor of four.
– There are both direct and indirect reasons for this, says Elin Ekblom Bak, associate professor at the Stockholm School of Gymnastics and Sports (GIH).
Among the most direct causes, he says, is the fact that physical activity improves our immune system, which in turn determines how the body handles infections.
– There is a lot of research showing that the immune system is affected by how active we are, that physical activity affects how resilient we become. Our condition also affects the severity of the disease, if it affects us, because it helps reduce inflammation, that is, the body’s reaction to infection, says Elin Ekblom Bak.
In addition, physical activity has a series of indirect effects, since conditions are improved so as not to suffer from various risk factors, such as high blood pressure, obesity and / or heart problems.
Getting started in training can, however, be experienced as boring and difficult, but the good thing about crow’s song is that the effort can be quite modest for it to pay off.
– Elite performance is not required to achieve these benefits, says Elin Ekblom Bak.
Research has repeatedly shown that the big difference is between doing nothing and doing little, rather than doing little and doing a lot.
WHO has taken note of this. On Thursday, the organization updated its guidelines, which state that physical activity, although to a lesser extent, is better than no activity. “Every step counts,” as the WHO said Thursday in connection with the launch of the new guidelines.
– You don’t even have to change. The most important thing is to achieve a regularity and incorporate it into everyday life. It could be a brisk hike or something. You need to start out carefully and find your opportunities when it suits you, so it’s long-term and preferably do something every day, says Elin Ekblom Bak, who sees this as something very important now, in crown times, when many work from House.
– It becomes more passive to work from home. You simply move less than when you go to work from one place to another.
TT: If there is a third wave early next year, will you have time to pull up your pants by then?
– It sounds great to start now, says Elin Ekblom Bak.
She believes that it is flawed that Sweden does not have a national strategy regarding physical activity, similar to the ones we have regarding alcohol and tobacco. It would make working with physical activity in the regions more structured and more equitable, he says.
– It would be very surprising if the government does not address this, given the situation we are in now, because obviously it is possible to prevent the severity of this disease. Now is the time.
It’s that easy to have better skin
To maintain or improve your condition, you need to move so that it starts to feel somewhat strenuous. This can be done by exercising or exercising.
Many people forget that this activity can often also take place in our daily lives, the so-called daily exercise, which saves time and does not have to cost you anything to do it.
For example, it could be taking the stairs instead of the elevator, cycling to work, or getting off a station early and walking the last bit. Anything that makes the heart work a little harder and improves oxygen absorption is good.
Source: Elin Ekblom Bak
