I'm wondering if it is true, what I've red some times in this board: That physical exercise really increases the oxygen level in your body.
I'm asking because until now I thought that the reason, why you are breathe so much when doing exercise is because your body LACKS oxygen and tries to compensate the lack.
But: If it is right that exercise results in higher oxygen levels then it would be an excellent treatment supplement :-)
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
Below is from Dr. B's 2005 Guidelines, on Lyme and exercise. He believes exercise is essential, but recommends against cardio exercise.
I personally do Vinyasa Yoga, and I believe it is crucial to my improvement.
From Dr. B's guidelines:
LYME DISEASE REHABILITATION
Despite antibiotic treatments, patients will NOT return to normal unless they exercise! This is because in most cases the chronic Lyme patient is deconditioned. More importantly, a properly executed exercise program becomes part of the treatment, as it can actually go beyond the antibiotics in helping to clear the symptoms and to maintain a remission.
Therefore, a vital part of any plan for recovery must include serious efforts at physical reconditioning. This may begin with physical therapy: the physical therapy should involve massage, heat, ultrasound and simple range of motion exercises to relieve discomfort and promote better sleep and flexibility. Ice and electrical stimulation should not be used!
The program ultimately must evolve into a graded, strenuous exercise program that consists of a specific regimen of non-aerobic conditioning- see below.
Although the scientific basis for the benefits of exercises is not known, there are several reasonable theories.
It is known that Bb will die if exposed to all but the tiniest oxygen concentrations. If an aggressive exercise program can increase tissue perfusion and oxygen levels, then this may play a role in what is being seen.
Also, during aggressive exercise, the core body temperature can rise above 102 degrees; it is known that B. burgdorferi is very heat sensitive. Perhaps it is the added tissue oxygenation, or higher body temperature, or the combination that weakens the Lyme Borrelia, and allows the antibiotics and our defenses to be more effective.
In addition, there is now evidence that a carefully structured exercise program may benefit T-cell function in the immune system, an obvious potential benefit in an illness like Lyme that is known to weaken immune responses.
To reap this benefit, the exercise sessions should last at least one hour, but never be repeated more often than every other day. The following pages is an exercise prescription that outlines these recommendations in detail.
NOTE: a cardiac stress test may be necessary prior to exercising to ensure safety.
Posted by pegee4 (Member # 9869) on :
Aerobic exercise will increase your VO2max, or simply stated the amt of Oxygen that your body can uptake and utiilize to distribute to your cells etc. Anaerobic exercise, such as weight training is necessary for the conditioning of muscles and protecting and strengthening your skeleton which is being depleted of magnesium and calcium with lyme disease. Weight training will also temporarily increase your rate of metabolism assisting in getting you back into shape as well as having strengthening benefits. (Muscular strength, endurance , power and tone)) Do not forget to stretch exercised muscles AFTER working out for flexibility! Most lyme patients should start their program with gentle stretching and conditioning before moving on to more active aerobics to prevent injuring weak muscles.If you would like a more detailed explanation of the specific advantages of aerobic,anaerobic, and flexibility exercises feel free to message me.Pegee4
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