Yoga and Physical Exercises as Immunogenic Fortifiers for Coronavirus Vaccine Responses

Background and aim: Coronavirus has emerged as a pandemic leading to pneumonia and death in susceptible populations, especially in immunocompromised hosts and the elderly. Though national governance and drug firms work in cohesion to develop vaccines, the fear and anxiety towards misconceptions about vaccine efficacy and adverse effects lead to underutilization of the vaccines. Though known for its immunogenic responses against infections, conservative lifestyle modifications such as Yoga and physical exercise's synergistic effects with coronavirus vaccine's immunogenic response remains unknown. Methods: We administered a systematic search on the contemporary evidence investigating the immune responses of physical activity or Yoga in three databases: PubMed, Embase and Web of Science. In the present review, we reviewed the empirical evidence that explored the role of Yoga and physical exercise as an immunity booster and extrapolated their effects against coronavirus infection. Results: We found sixteen articles emphasizing physical activity to augment immune responses towards Coronavirus. Discussion and Conclusion: Considering the contemporary evidence, complementary therapies such as Yoga or physical activity are speculated to improve the influenza vaccines' immune responses. We recommend that Yoga and physical exercises be affordable, practical and effective strategies that could be advocated along with vaccination doses. We hope the present review may help readers and policymakers explore complementary therapies that could be administered as adjuncts to vaccine-mediated immunity in combating the deadly pandemic. © 2023 by authors, all rights reserved.

INFLUENCE OF THERAPEUTIC GYMNASTICS ON BODY WEIGHT COMPOSITION, ANTHROPOMETRIC PARAMETERS AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF WOMEN WITH OBESITY IN THE CONDITIONS OF QUARANTINE RESTRICTIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.

OBJECTIVE: The aim: To determine the effectiveness of application of special therapeutic physical exercises to improve the indicators of body weight, anthropometric parameters and quality of life of obese women in the conditions of quarantine restrictions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: We examined 10 women aged 37 ± 5 years with obesity of various degrees, which was determined by the body mass index (BMI, kg/m2). All women for two months were involved in specially designed therapeutic exercises in the remote mode. Evaluation of the effectiveness of therapeu¬tic exercises use was performed using the survey method to determine the quality of life of obese women according to a short version of the questionnaire "The world health organization quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF)"; anthropometric measurements of body parts sizes; bioimpedance analysis of body weight composition; statistical methods of data processing. RESULTS: Results: The effect of therapeutic gymnastics according to the proposed programme on the component composition of body weight of obese women was proved, which indicates a decrease in total body weight, reduction of body fat, increase in total body water and muscle component of body weight. It is shown that under the influence of corrective physical exercises the proportions of the body of women changed, as evidenced by the dynamics of the circumferences of all measured parts of the body of obese women. The improvement of women's quality of life in all indicators was identified. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The use of special complexes of physical exercises, aimed at correction of the body weight of obese women,showed its significant effectiveness and led to the expected result.

Will the Construction of Sports Facilities Nudge People to Participate in Physical Exercises in China? The Moderating Role of Mental Health.

This study aims to examine the nudging effect of the sports facility construction on physical exercise (PE) participation with consideration of the moderating role of mental health in China. Multiple linear regression models are used in this study. The subjects are 4634 from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, which is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of Chinese individuals. We find that the construction of sports facilities nudges people to participate in PE, and gender, age, and education significantly influence people's participation in PE. Young, female, and better-educated people compose the "neo-vulnerable" population, who participate less in PE in China and need more interventions. Mental health status has no significant effect on people's PE participation, while it negatively moderates the nudging effect of the construction of sports facilities on PE. The results of this study suggest that only building sporting facilities is insufficient to encourage PE participation. Policies and interventions should be given to mentally disturbed individuals to guarantee and magnify the nudging effect of sports facilities on PE.

Immunity benefits of yoga and physical exercises in the era of COVID-19 Pandemic

Purpose. The novel coronavirus is the recently emerged disease of the respiratory system for which various national and international research agencies are putting joint efforts towards finding a permanent cure. Recently, the vaccine against coronavirus has been designed by various pharmaceutical agencies that are currently undergoing clinical trials. Since vaccines prevent infection by strengthening the defense system of the body, we proposed that yoga and physical exercises could act as an integrative approach to synergize the immunogenic response of the coronavirus vaccine. Yoga and physical exercises are already known to boost immunity against several other infections. Materials and Methods. In the present review article, we aimed towards exploring the role of yoga and physical exercise as an immunity booster against coronavirus infection. Being India is a low-income country, yoga and physical exercises could be an excellent cost-effective strategy that could be administrated along with vaccine trials to enhance immunity against virus infection. Results. In the present review, we analyze the studies conducted to date focusing on finding the role of yoga and physical exercises to prevent coronavirus infection. We also described the potential exercises, which are already known to enhance the immunity of the body by particularly targeting respiratory disease. Conclusion. The present review article will help in providing the health agencies potential targets, which could further be explored to established a standard exercise module to enhance the vaccine-mediated immunity against coronavirus infection. © Karuppasamy Govindasamy, Chandrababu Suresh, Mithin Anand, Saran KS, Mou Pramanik, Dilpreet Kaur, Imen Achouri, Hiba Boughanmi.

Home therapeutic physical exercises in the care of patients with fibromyalgia during COVID-19

Introduction: systematic physical exercise constitutes an indispensable tool for the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia: and even more so in the COVID-19 stage. Objective: to verify the effectiveness of home therapeutic physical exercises in the care of patients with fibromyalgia during covid-19. Methods: a pre-experiment was conducted with a purposive sample of 20 patients with fibromyalgia. A general characterization of the sample was performed. The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire was used to know the general impact of the pathology and the Visual Analog Scale to determine the intensity of the patients' pain. Physical tests were used to determine the physical condition of the sample. The McNemar and Wilcoxon nonparametric test was applied to identify changes produced in the patients through the application of home therapeutic physical exercises. Results: the implementation of the research methods and techniques showed that the average age was 47.85 years with a predominance of the female sex (95.0 %). At the beginning of the research, the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire scores showed that 85.0 % of the patients were in moderate and severe impact of the disease, as well as the Visual Analog Scale, which showed that the patients were in moderate and severe pain. The evaluation of the physical tests showed that most of the patients were in inadequate physical condition. After implementing the home therapeutic physical exercises, an improvement of the evaluated parameters was demonstrated, thus evidenced by the contracting of inferential statistics through McNemar since the results were at a lower level for p=0.005 and the Wilcoxon Z results resulted in a bilateral significance of 0.000. Conclusions: it is concluded that the results obtained evidenced significant changes in fibromyalgia patients, which can be said that home therapeutic physical exercises were effective in fibromyalgia patients during isolation by COVID-19.

Multimorbidity worsened anxiety and depression symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil.

Multimorbidity is a global health issue impacting the quality of life of all ages. Multimorbidity with a mental disorder is little studied and is likely to have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a survey of 14,007 respondents living in Brazil to investigate whether people who already had at least one chronic medical condition had more depression and anxiety symptoms during social distancing in 2020. Generalized linear models and structural equation modelling were used to estimate the effects. A 19 % and 15 % increase in depressive symptoms were found in females and males, respectively, for each unit of increase in the observed value of reported chronic disease. Older subjects presented fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. There was a 16 % increase in anxiety symptoms in females for each unit increase in the reported chronic disease variable and a 14 % increase in males. Younger subjects were more affected by anxiety symptoms in a dose-response fashion. High income was significantly related to fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms in both males and females. Physical activity was significantly associated with fewer anxiety and depression symptoms. Structural equation modelling confirmed these results and provided further insight into the hypothesised paths.

PHYSICAL REHABILITATION IN COVID-19 PATIENTS

Aim. The paper aims to develop and test a method of physical rehabilitation in COVID-19 patients. Materials and methods. The following methods were used for the purpose of the study: literature and internet search and analysis, survey, pedagogical observation, pedagogical experiment, statistical processing of the results, their analysis and synthesis. Our 4-month study involved 16 COVID-19 patients (moderate and moderate-severe disease) aged between 18 and 45 years. Results. Our physical rehabilitation method resulted in the improvement of the following mean values: HR - up to 73 bpm, blood pressure - up to115/75 mmHg, Stange test - up to 44 sec, Gench test - up to 36 s, Serkin test - up to 44, 21 and 38 s in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd phases respectively. Therefore, general cardiorespiratory improvement was recorded. Conclusion. As a result of the study, improvement of the functional status and general well-being was recorded in COVID-19 patients. Our study provides the foundation for further research in the field. © 2021 South Ural State University - Institute of Sport, Tourism and Service. All rights reserved.

Moderate exercise may prevent the development of severe forms of COVID-19, whereas high-intensity exercise may result in the opposite.

Sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of hospitalization for COVID-19 independently of other factors. There is enough statistics to show that exercise prevents severe forms of COVID-19, but current recommendations do not set an upper limit for exercise intensity. The hypothesis presented in the paper states that intense exercise, through blood hypoxia, increases the expression of transmembrane angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (tACE2) in the vascular endothelium, increasing the risk of developing serious forms of disease, especially in the untrained. On the other hand, moderate-intensity exercise increases the blood concentration of soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) which has a protective role for SARS-CoV-2 infection and may prevent complications. The importance of this hypothesis consists in the revision of COVID-19 prophylaxis programs through physical exercises, with the possibility of administration of antioxidants to speed up the adaptation of vascular endothelial cells to exertion.