Everyone is concerned about how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect those around them, especially themselves and their loved ones. Although many of us may eventually get the virus, the good news is that for most of us there will only be a minimal effect.
In fact, for most of us the biggest danger is the effect of the lengthy periods of isolation and reduced activity. Not only will this period of isolation affect us physically, but for many, this period will be stressful and may affect our mental health negatively. Many of us are now confined to our homes and are not able to be as physically active as usual.
The aim of this article is to provide you with valuable information to help support you and your loved ones at this uncertain time. The focus is to keep you healthy and provide you with ways in which to support your immune system. Your immune system is your bodies’ defence system, it protects you against disease and helps fight the disease when you become ill. To maximise your immune systems’ response, you need to support it in multiple ways.
The great news is that there are many simple ways of keeping you strong and healthy. Always remember to wash your hands thoroughly and regularly, wipe down surfaces that hands have touched, or people have sneezed or coughed over, and physically distance yourself from others. Other important ways in which you can help support your immune system during this time are provided below.
Sleep: Good quality sleep helps support your immune system. You and your family should go to bed at regular times. Don’t stay up late just because you don’t have to go to work or school tomorrow, and keep away from tablets and mobile phones at least an hour before going to sleep.
People were found to be three to five times more likely to get sick with viruses if they slept less than five to seven hours compared to people who slept seven to eight hours (Prather et al 2012, 2015). Respiratory infections were four to five times more common in people who slept less than six hours per night compared to people who slept seven to nine hours per night.
Summary: Go to sleep early, keep away from your phones before sleeping and try to sleep at least eight hours each night.
Exercise: Exercise not only reduces the risk of contracting a respiratory infection it also decreases the duration of the illness (Nieman and Weitz 2019). Research has found that the benefit of exercise exceeds the benefit reported for many medications and supplements.
Summary: Exercise is a miracle medicine and can reduce your chances of getting an upper respiratory tract infection. Exercising can also reduce the duration and severity of symptoms should you become ill.
Nutrition: Probiotics may reduce the chances of getting a respiratory infection and if you do become ill, may reduce the duration of the illness (Hao 2015). Although there is probably no harm in taking probiotics, it is important for you to know the quality of the research supporting the benefit of probiotics is not strong, and more research is still needed.
Vitamin C does not appear to reduce the risk of getting a respiratory infection, but may reduce its duration in people who are exercising and are physically active (Hemile et al 2013, Virilhon et al 2019).
However, Vitamin C supplements may not actually help once you have already developed symptoms.
Summary: Ensure you and your family have good nutritional food and avoid unhealthy food and snacks. Consider taking probiotics and Vitamin C supplements if you do not have any respiratory symptoms.
Stress: Stress (short- and long-term) has a very negative effect on your immune system and reduces many of the cells that fight infection (Haywood et al 2020). There are many things you can do to reduce stress, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (https://simple.wikipedia. org/wiki/Cognitive-behavioral_therapy) mindfulness and relaxation exercises. However, another very powerful way of reducing stress is (yes you guessed it!), exercise.
Summary: Stress increases the risk of infection and makes fighting an infection harder. There are a number of ways to reduce stress such as regular exercise, mindfulness and relaxation activities, etc.
Smoking and being overweight also has a negative effect on our immune systems.
Smoking or being overweight may increase our chances of developing respiratory infections and may also decrease our ability to fight infection once the virus has entered our bodies (Sopori 2002; Kalra et al 2004, de Heredia et al 2012).
It is advised that you find ways to help you stop smoking or to lose weight in a healthy way. More about exercise: Exercise is truly a miracle drug. It can help us sleep better, reduce our stress, improve our mental health, improve our heart and lung function, help our digestion, keep our bones and muscles strong, reduce high blood pressure and help reduce the impact of noninsulin dependent diabetes.
It works best when used conjunction with good nutrition, good quality sleep and not smoking. Here are some of the benefits of exercise: What happens if we don’t exercise? A lack of normal activity can lead to a very quick and very substantial loss of physical fitness.
After one to two weeks of inactivity, people can lose 25 to 50 percent of their strength and within a week more than one kilogram of muscle. Worryingly, it may take up to a year to regain the lost strength and muscle mass (size). For people over the age of 30 years the loss will be greater and the time to regain muscle size and strength will be much longer.
The biggest concern of not exercising is that we don’t get the benefit of all the great positive effects of exercise, including supporting our immune systems (Jiricka 2008, Dirks et al 2016).
The good news: The good news is that it is relatively easy to maintain and build muscle even in the confines of your home and even without gym equipment. The great news is that no exercise is better than another and all you need do is establish a weekly programme of at least 150 minutes of exercise. This could be 30 minutes a day for five days each week or another variation that suits you better.
The important issue is that you exercise. You just need to find a level of exercise that you can cope with or tolerate. It is safe to exercise even if you are not feeling 100 percent well, provided you reduce the intensity of exercising and ensure your level of exercise would allow you to talk to someone during the activity. Maybe you can exercise with your family at home to support and encourage each other.
Below are some exercises you can do at home without the need for gym equipment:
Sit to stand
Sit to stand with shoulder press
Bridging
Stepping
Exercising outdoors
Engaging in exercise outdoors during COVID-19 is safe provided the exercise is done independently, such as running, cycling or walking and is permitted under the current public health guidance. If the advice in Qatar allows for exercise with others outdoors, you can exercise with someone else as long as you keep two metres apart from your exercise partner at all times. Don’t exercise outdoors by yourself or with anyone else if you are feeling unwell.
Summary: Exercising is one of the most beneficial things you and your family can do at this difficult time. It is something that will benefit you all through your life. Start today, start gently and build up to the recommended level. Do not worry if you feel some pain with exercise, you won’t have done any harm to yourself. If there is some pain afterwards or the next day, then continue but at a slightly reduced level before you build up again.
The article was written by Professor Jeremy Lewis PhD FCSP, Mariem Sirine Latrous, Dr Sean McAuliffe MISP, Dr Linzette Morris, Dr. Emma Stokes from Qatar University.
