Background
The SARS-CoV virus is a precursor to the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) and has caused millions of deaths worldwide. Although exercise can be a non-pharmacological means for the prevention and treatment of various diseases, the effects on COVID-19 patients are not yet completely clear.
Aims
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between physical exercise and symptoms caused by COVID-19.
Methods
The present systematic review was sent for evaluation and received the PROSPERO registration protocol-CRD42021257475. The search for studies related to health and physical exercise was carried out in the following databases; the “National Library in Medicine MEDLINE–Ovid”, “Embase”, “Web of Science”, “SportDiscus-Ebsco”, and “Scopus”.
Results
Ten articles were included in the systematic review and the findings demonstrated the protective effects of physical exercise in patients with COVID-19. These effects were observed both in symptoms and in the period of hospitalization. In addition, the results show that the benefits of physical exercise seem to collaborate both in an individual manner and as an alternative to drug therapy. Finally, it was possible to verify the effect of physical exercise on variables, such as quality of life, cardiorespiratory capacity, and immunological biomarkers, and on the symptoms of the new Coronavirus.
Conclusions
It is possible to conclude that physical exercise can be a component for the treatment of COVID-19. In addition, it could help to reduce the symptoms and severity of COVID-19, and may be considered as an adjunct to drug therapy in patients contaminated with SARS-CoV-2.
BACKGROUND: Cognitive workload resulting from drivers’ engagement in concomitant tasks while driving, such as talking on a cell phone, affects the availability of attentional resources for the various stages of information processing, which can interfere with the selection of relevant traffic information, leading to poor performance and higher risk of accidents.
AIM: The purpose of this study was to test the adaptation and application of the method of fixation-aligned pupillary response averaging to the car driving context, and, if successful, to determine effects of talking on a cell phone while driving, in both handheld and hands-free situations, and effects of driving experience on pupillary responses of young adult drivers, as indicative of cognitive workload.
METHOD: Ten novice and ten experienced drivers had pupil diameter measured while driving in a car simulator under velocity of 80-120 km/h, daylight, linear trajectory and low traffic level. Data analysis was based on the method of fixation-aligned pupillary response averaging.
RESULTS: Noise curves were around baseline (zero) values while pupil dilation curves clearly stood out from noise magnitude, in all conditions for both groups. Greater pupil dilation peak during talking on the cell phone (handheld and hands-free conditions) while driving occurred only for the novice group.
CONCLUSION: Adaptation and application of the method of fixation-aligned pupillary response averaging to the car driving context succeed. Cognitive workload imposed by the dual task of talking on a cell phone increased pupil dilation for novice drivers, which may alter acquisition of visual information and impair driving behavior.
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