When infected with flu-like viruses, each infected cell produces between 1,000 and 10,000 new viruses and the total number of flu viruses in your body can rise to trillions within a few days. In most people, the immune system wins this war of no small combat numbers within a week or so.
Exercise and other proactive health activity can help minimize the impact of a COVID-19 or any other viral infection. The immune system is amazing at targeting pathogens. For that to happen, immune cells must “find” the pathogen. Since we only have about 1.5 gallons of blood scattered with leukocytes and about 100,000 miles of blood vessels, we can help the random chance that the right immune cells will be in the right area so they can latch onto pathogens by improving blood flow / vasodilation through exercise. The same is true for lymphatic system fluids. Exercise improves those flow rates as well and leads to improved immunosurveillance.
With similar importance, higher blood and lymph flow from exercise while we are sick, even though we just want to lay in bed, can help remove septic materials when viral cells burst and/or deteriorate as they “birth” new virions; and improved flows may even help remove excess immune system cytokine action / pre-storm by pushing excess cytokines away from highly infected areas.
COVID appears to “predispose patients to thrombotic disease, both in the venous and arterial circulations, due to excessive inflammation, platelet activation, endothelial dysfunction, and stasis (areas of slow circulating blood)”. Common causes of endothelial dysfunction include diabetes, hypertension, smoking, and physical inactivity.
Rest is important; but too much laying in a bed, whether it be at home or in a hospital is probably counter to optimal recovery. This is probably intuitive except when we just really want to lay in bed. Conventional wisdom indicates that we feel better when we get exercise mixed with rest when sick compared to just laying there.
Could it be that the “power of suggestion” that we may need to be hospitalized is creating sedentary behavior during sickness that is unhelpful?
Are we immune by chance? “The launch of an immune response can sometimes be predicted by mass action, because collisions have to take place between the pathogens and the cells of the immune system (e.g., Sykulev et al., 1995): the stronger the pathogen attack, the higher the immune reaction, on average. Nevertheless, how rapidly immune cells react will vary by host (Frank, 2002), partly because of variation in the rate at which immune cells patrol through the body (e.g., Lee et al., 2012).”
To clarify, this is not intended to create mystery or the idea that immunity is purely chance. It is intended to show that there are elements of probability in the functioning of the immune system and that increased blood and lymph flow increases those probabilities.
Are we immune by chance?
The sooner the immune system launches, the greater the chances the host has of survival.
Autoimmunity and Tumor Immunology: Two Facets of a Probabilistic Immune System – PubMed
A simple probabilistic model of the communication between the innate and adaptive immune system provides a robust immune response, including targeting tumors, but at the price of being at risk of developing autoimmunity.
A Probabilistic Model of the Germinal Center Reaction
Germinal centers (GCs) are specialized compartments within the secondary lymphoid organs, where B cells proliferate, differentiate, and mutate their antibody genes. Upon exit from the GC, B cells terminally differentiate into plasma cells or memory B cells. While we have a good comprehension of plas…
Exercise and the Regulation of Immune Functions
Exercise has a profound effect on the normal functioning of the immune system. It is generally accepted that prolonged periods of intensive exercise t…
COVID-19 epidemiologists continue to research why clinical infection rates are lower in Japan and other Asian countries. It could be exercise that increases lymph flow such that the virus more rapidly contacts leukocytes in SLO germinal centers such that adaptive immune response is accelerated.
Morning Exercise in Japan
Did you know that there is an exercise routine every morning in Japan? Japanese people usually do this exercise in the morning maintain their health. It’s called Rajio Taisou.
In Japan, it’s a must to Exercise while at Work | #IAmHeartHealthy
In Japan it has been made a mandatory activity for any companies, to arrange a exercising drill during office hours. The step was taken considering the serious ageing issues with Japanese.
Cytokine storms and sepsis are a major contributor to COVID19 fatalities. This study of mice relates exercise and likelihood of sepsis in studies with mice.
Evading sepsis with exercise
Aged mice preconditioned with a running routine were resistant to acute systemic sepsis compared with non-runner.
Osteopathic Lymphatic Pump Techniques | The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association
Mechanisms of lymphatic system‐specific viral replication and its potential role in autoimmune disease
Viral infections can be fatal because of the direct cytopathic effects of the virus or the induction of a strong, uncontrolled inflammatory response. Virus and host intrinsic characteristics strongly modulate the outcome of viral infections. Recently …
Lymphatic System Flows
The supply of oxygen and nutrients to tissues is performed by the blood system, and involves a net leakage of fluid outward at the capillary level. One of the principal functions of the lymphatic system is to gather this fluid and return it to the blood …
Lymphatic pumping: mechanics, mechanisms and malfunction
A combination of extrinsic (passive) and intrinsic (active) forces move lymph against a hydrostatic pressure gradient in most regions of the body. The effectiveness of the lymph pump system impacts not only interstitial fluid balance but other aspects …
Inadequate Exercise as a Risk Factor for Sepsis Mortality
Test whether inadequate exercise is related to sepsis mortality.Mortality surveillance of an epidemiological cohort of 155,484 National Walkers’ and Runners’ Health Study participants residing in the United States. Deaths were monitored for an average …
“Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a viral respiratory illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), may predispose patients to thrombotic disease, both in the venous and arterial circulations, due to excessive inflammation, platelet activation, endothelial dysfunction, and stasis.”
COVID-19 and Thrombotic or Thromboembolic Disease: Implications for Prevention, Antithrombotic Therapy, and Follow-up
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a viral respiratory illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), may predispose patients to thrombotic disease, both in the venous and arterial circulations, due to excessive …
Balance: Over-exercising and over-exercising immediately prior to infection / or during symptom development could be counter-productive, as one might intuitively guess. Is it possible that an anecdotal case study of a marathon runner COVID19 fatality was aggravated through extreme exercise sepsis? While this is not known, the negative effects of excessive exercise is explained in this article.
Extreme Exercise May Cause Blood Poisoning
New studies link running a marathon to septicemia, but don’t worry—not all roads lead to blood poisoning
How to Avoid Sepsis, a Deadly Medical Emergency
More than a million people a year in the U.S. now develop sepsis, and more than 250,000 deaths a year are linked to it. Find out what you need to know from Consumer Reports to keep yourself safe.
These Healthy Habits Can Protect Your Lungs From Coronavirus
For many Americans, the potential for contracting COVID-19 can be high. Here’s how to offset your risk.
Going one step further, light exercise during early cytokine storm activity or pre-storm could be helpful. Take a walk when you are able. It could be too late during late-storm and sepsis, so it may be better to take that walk even when wanting to lay in bed all day.
Just 20 minutes of exercise enough to reduce inflammation, study finds
New research suggests that a short session of moderate physical activity can reduce inflammation by activating a response at the cellular level.
Several general articles regarding health. COVID, and the great outdoors.
How to boost your immune system – Harvard Health
Image: lzf/Getty Images How can you improve your immune system? On the whole, your immune system does a remarkable job of defending you against disease-causing microorganisms. But sometimes it fails: A germ invades successfully and makes you sick. Is…
‘Please, go outside’: COVID-19 much less likely to spread outdoors, B.C.’s top doctor says | CBC News
The chance of catching COVID-19 from someone coughing as they walk past you in a park is “infinitesimally small,” B.C.’s provincial health officer said Wednesday.
This Is Where You’re 19 Times More Likely to Get Coronavirus
Two new studies reveal where COVID-19 is most likely to spread, indoors or outdoors. And the results are likely to hit a little too close to home.
Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on self-managed weight loss journeys
With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia took a range of public health control measures including a lockdown which resulted in closures of ‘non-essential’ services and confined people to their homes. The impact of self-quarantine on weight-related behaviours has been examined by studies …
Obesity, Race/Ethnicity, and COVID-19 | Overweight & Obesity | CDC
CDC’s Obesity efforts focus on policy and environmental strategies to make healthy eating and active living accessible and affordable for everyone.
Cigarette Smoking and COVID-19: A Complex Interaction
This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.
Does high blood sugar worsen COVID-19 outcomes?
Preliminary observations of COVID-19 patients with diabetes inspired an algorithm for glucose monitoring that’s suspected to help combat the virus’ serious complications.
It is time to take seriously the link between Vitamin D deficiency and more serious Covid-19 symptoms
A suggestive set of numbers was published online in April by a medical scientist in the Philippines, Dr Mark Alipio.
Special Report, Part 1: COVID-19, The Aussie Experiment
Several weeks in, people are surfing and the Thing ain’t spreading. Why?
Perhaps it’s best to get that exercise outdoors where sunlight can generate vitamin D. Vitamin B is also helpful and tends to provide an energy boost. Vitamin C and multivitamins are helpful. Some articles favor megadoses, but meeting RDA levels is a safe recommendation. Essential oils such as peppermint and others found in mouthwash and breath fresheners can be soothing and especially helpful as preventative germicides.
Vitamin D appears to play role in COVID-19 mortality rates
After studying global data from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, researchers have discovered a strong correlation between severe vitamin D deficiency and mortality rates.
Placing 1/16th of a zinc supplement (nibble off a small piece) and/or a few grains of salt in room temperature or slightly warm water will make the water much more pleasant to drink, which will enable you to remain well hydrated. The zinc also seems to have a throat soothing effect and may have some mild topical protective characteristics. Just a nibble and a few grains go a long way.
Zinc Salts Block Hepatitis E Virus Replication by Inhibiting the Activity of Viral RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes an acute, self-limiting hepatitis in healthy individuals and leads to chronic disease in immunocompromised individuals. HEV infection in pregnant women results in a more severe outcome, with the mortality rate going up to 30%. Though the virus usually causes sporadic i…
It has been well recognized that lying prone / stomach or side is healthier than lying on the back when lungs are being stressed.
Virus Life Cycles, Structure, Senses, Etc.
The Viral Life Cycle | Microbiology
All viruses depend on cells for reproduction and metabolic processes. By themselves, viruses do not encode for all of the enzymes necessary for viral replication. But within a host cell, a virus can commandeer cellular machinery to produce more viral particles. Bacteriophages replicate only in the c…
Influenza A Structure
This article describes the structure of the influenza A virus. The virus uses surface proteins called haemagglutinin and neuraminidase to enter host cells.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 – Wikipedia
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus
“Viruses can be released from the host cell by lysis, a process that kills the cell by bursting its membrane and cell wall if present. This is a feature of many bacterial and some animal viruses.” “Budding is [another] method which viruses use to exit the cell. “Budding” through the cell envelope, in effect using the cell’s membrane for the virus itself is most effective for viruses that need an envelope in the first place. These include enveloped viruses such as HSV, SARS, or smallpox.”. Influenza and SARS-CoV-2 are also enveloped viruses that are released through budding.
Positive-Strand RNA Viruses in Animals | Boundless Microbiology
Positive strand RNA viruses are the single largest group of RNA viruses with 30 families.
9.9A: Negative-Strand RNA Viruses of Animals
Negative-strand RNA viruses are single-stranded viruses that can infect several types of animals.
Coronaviruses: An Overview of Their Replication and Pathogenesis
Coronaviruses (CoVs), enveloped positive-sense RNA viruses, are characterized by club-like spikes that project from their surface, an unusually large RNA genome, and a unique replication strategy. Coronaviruses cause a variety of diseases in mammals and …
The genome of an RNA virus can be said to be either positive-sense, also known as a “plus-strand”, or negative-sense, also known as a “minus-strand”. In most cases, the terms “sense” and “strand” are used interchangeably, making terms such as “positive-strand” equivalent to “positive-sense”, and “plus-strand” equivalent to “plus-sense”.
Sense (molecular biology) – Wikipedia
In molecular biology and genetics, the sense of a nucleic acid molecule, particularly of a strand of DNA or RNA, refers to the nature of the roles of the strand and its complement in specifying a sequence of amino acids. Depending on the context, sense may have slightly different meanings. For examp…
The coronaviruses (CoVs) belong to the genus Coronavirus, the family Coronaviridae, and the order Nidovirales [1]. They are enveloped and have a non-segmented, single-stranded, positive-sense ribonucleic acid (ssRNA+) as their nuclear material. On electron microscopy, these viruses show a characteristic appearance that resembles a crown (corona in Latin means crown) due to the presence of club-shaped surface protein projections [2-3]. The CoVs are pleomorphic, measure between 80 and 160 nm in length, and have a small genome measuring 27-32 Kilobytes (KB) with a unique replication strategy
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2): An Update
Coronaviruses (CoVs) belong to the family of Coronaviridae, the order Nidovirales, and the genus Coronavirus. They are the largest group of viruses causing respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. Morphologically, CoVs are enveloped viruses containing a non-segmented positive-sense, single-stran…
» How many virions result from a single viral infection?
Vignettes that reveal how numbers serve as a sixth sense to understanding our cells
“Replication is very quick: after only 6 hours the first influenza viruses are shed from infected cells.”
So imagine multiplying by 1,000 to 10,000 every 6 hours. That’s what happens until the immune system engages the viruses and begins killing the viruses and the cells they have infected.
Influenza Book | Virology of Human Influenza
A medical textbook that provides a comprehensive overview of epidemic and pandemic influenza – by Bernd Sebastian Kamps, Christian Hoffmann, and Wolfgang Preiser (editors)
