Wearing a face mask while exercising safely: study

London, March 8: Researchers have found that wearing a face mask during vigorous exercise appears to be safe for healthy people.

This suggests that the masks could be worn safely to reduce the transmission of Covid-19 between people visiting an indoor gym.

For the study, published in the European Respiratory Journal, the researchers performed detailed tests on breathing, heart activity and physical performance in a small group of people while they used an exercise bike with and without mask.

Although they found differences in some measurements between wearing a mask and not wearing a mask, they said none of their results indicated a health risk.

The study was carried out by a team of researchers including Dr Elisabetta Salvioni from Centro Cardiologico Monzino, IRCCS, Milan, Italy, and Dr Massimo Mapelli and Professor Piergiuseppe Agostoni from Centro Cardiologico Monzino and the University of Milan.

“We know that the main route of transmission of the coronavirus is via droplets in the breath and it is possible that breathing harder during exercise could facilitate transmission, especially indoors,” said Elisabetta Salvioni of Centro Cardiologico Monzino, IRCCS (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico), Milan, Italy.

“Research suggests that wearing a mask can help prevent the spread of the disease, but there is no clear evidence that masks can be worn safely during vigorous exercise.”

To answer this question, the researchers worked with a group of healthy volunteers who were on average 40 years old.

Each person participated in three sets of stress tests: once without a face mask, once with a surgical mask (disposable blue mask) and once with a “ filter facepiece 2 ” or an FFP2 mask ( white, disposable) mask supposed to offer slightly better protection than a surgical mask).

As the volunteers rode an exercise bike, the researchers measured their breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels in their blood.

The test results showed that wearing a face mask had a small effect on the volunteers. For example, there was an average reduction of about ten percent in their ability to perform aerobic exercise.

The results also indicate that this reduction was likely due to the fact that it was slightly more difficult for the volunteers to inhale and exhale through the masks.

The team is currently studying the impact of wearing a face mask during daily activities, such as climbing stairs or doing housework, on healthy people and those with heart or lung disease.

Disclaimer: This story is automatically generated from the IANS service.