Exercise and immune function
It could be considered common knowledge that exercise can cause a period of temporary immunosuppression of around 72 hours.
This was certainly what I thought until I started to research the topic. Which is why I’m sharing this with you now.
It is typically thought that post exercise there is a reduction in white blood cells in the circulating blood which could indicate a ‘window of opportunity’ for infection to enter the body.
In this research paper, Campbell and Turner propose that in the immediate period after exercise, white blood cells are lower in the circulating blood because they are actually re-distributed to peripheral tissues such as the gut, the lungs and bone marrow.
This could indicate that the white blood cells kind of congregate in the areas which are most prone to an invasion by pathogens.
A state of infection surveillance.
The authors go on to say that regular exercise throughout an individuals life cycle may actually “limit or delay immunological ageing”. So it’s not just our heart and cardiovascular system which benefits from the exercise we do.
The authors also discuss the benefits of exercise in elderly populations and there is some evidence to suggest that those who are most physically active have higher levels of T cell multiplication & natural killer cells.
One thing which was clear from this paper was that doing physical activity throughout our life is an effective means to reduce the risk of non-infectious diseases such as cancer & cardiovascular disease.
Although the evidence around each of the above point was mixed I think it’s safe to say that the overall effect is positive and we should add this to the long list of good things we do for ourselves each time we exercise.
The following article was used to inform this blog post:
Debunking the Myth of Exercise Induced Immune Suppression: Redefining the Impact of Exercise on Immunological Health Accross the Lifespan John p. Campbell and James E. Turner Frontiers of immunology April 2019 Volume 9 Article 648.
The content of this blog is copyright of Holly Elliott registered osteopath trading as Helping Hands Health 15a Clayton Road, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne.