Can Exercise Fight Alzheimer's Disease and Covid-19?

We know that aerobic exercise fights a lot of ailments including Alzheimer's disease.  But does it fight covid-19 infection?  Some think it does.

Dr. Zhen Yan at the University of Virginia Medical School says "Regular exercise has far more health benefits than we know. The protection against this severe respiratory disease condition is just one of the many examples."  This quote comes from an article in studyfinds.org.  His research on exercise and infection was published in the journal Redox Biology.

Dr. Yan's statement centers on "acute respiratory stress syndrome" which is the manifestation of respiratory infection that most concerns us.  He believes that during aerobic exercise, the body produces the antioxidant extracellular superoxide dismutase (EcSOD) which could have a lot to do with keeping the majority of coronavirus cases mild.  This occurs because the antioxidant neutralizes free-radicals which initiate damaging chemical reactions in the body.  In so doing, EcSOD protects various body tissues from disease.

An article in the NY Times from March discusses other research on exercise and immunity.  It emphasizes evidence dismissing the idea that the exercise might temporarily suppress the immune system.  In fact, exercise appears to strengthen the immune system, even in the window shortly after the exercise.  At least, that seems to be what happens with mice.

In Beating the Dementia Monster, we emphasize the importance of aerobic exercise in fighting Alzheimer's disease.  But it has a lot of other benefits as well.