Exercise Benefits HIV-Positive Men
A growing body of research suggests what some people already know: Exercise is good for you if you’re HIV-positive.
Workouts can help HIV-positive men increase their muscular strength and their heart-lung fitness with no decline in the key immune system cells called CD4 or T4, according to a study published recently in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.
The researchers compared 37 HIV-positive men who exercised with 37 HIV-positive men who served as the control group.
The exercisers, who had all been physically inactive for the previous six months, worked out three times a week for 12 weeks, combining stationary bike riding with strength and flexibility training during one-hour sessions.
The control group received health-maintenance counseling, but members did no formal exercise and showed no strength gains at the end of 12 weeks--suggesting they were involved in little or no physical activity, says Peter Raven, study co-author and professor of physiology at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ft. Worth.
(Researchers can’t say for sure whether exercise can help HIV-positive women in the same way, since none participated in the study. Nor do researchers know the effects of long-term exercise on the immune system of an HIV-positive person.)
Another men-only study, conducted at the University of Miami, found that moderate aerobic exercise and relaxation techniques strengthened the immune system of HIV-positive people and even increased their “helper” cells.
The key, say experts, is to keep exercise moderate. In general, that’s “three times a week, one hour a day with fairly intense exercise, enough to raise the heart rate to 150 to 170 (beats per minute), with some weight training,”’ suggests Raven.
The concept of exercise for HIV-positive people “makes a lot of sense” to Dr. Stephen J. Gabin, medical director of the AIDS Unit at Century City Hospital.
“In infected patients who are not sick, exercise is clearly beneficial,” he says. But he cautions that each exercise program should be individually prescribed, based on health status, former level of activity and other factors like body weight.
He tells patients: “Don’t be afraid of exercise. It won’t damage your immune system, and it’s likely to help you in many ways.”
In agreement is Nicholas Andriole, 35, a volunteer for Being Alive, an information and support organization for people with HIV or AIDS.
Andriole, who says he tested positive in 1988, has been exercising every other day for more than a year. During one-hour sessions, he walks a treadmill, rides a stationary bike and does strength training.
“I’m seeing development in my body I always wanted, “ he says. As important, he adds, the activity helps keep him optimistic.
“Patients (who exercise) get a better self-image,” Raven says, “and this seems to help them not give up.”
