Infection, inflammation and exercise in cystic fibrosis
Regular exercise of moderate intensity and duration (as presented by the American College of Sports Medicine) has been shown to exert anti-inflammatory effects. Various pathways that are activated to control the metabolic demand also have immune regulatory functions.
Where a single or vigorous exercise session induces immune system activation, regular moderate exercise induces immune dampening. This is associated with a reduced disease incidence and viral infection susceptibility, specifically respiratory tract infections. Exercise may therefore be used to modify the course of chronic inflammatory and infectious diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF).
Patients with CF suffer from severe and chronic pulmonary infections and inflammation, leading to obstructive and restrictive pulmonary disease, progressive exercise intolerance (-20% at 18 years) and muscle cachexia. Thus far, no curative therapy is available for CF disease and infections and inflammation are controlled by antibiotics and immune suppressive drugs. In this interesting review, the implications of exercise as a possible immune modulator are discussed.
Supervised and individually tailored exercise programs may help to maintain physical fitness, quality of life, sputum clearance, pulmonary function and health in patients with CF. > From: van de Weert-van Leeuwen, Respir Res 14 (2013) 32. All rights reserved to The Author(s); distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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