We know exercise is good for everybody, but why is it so crucial for Alphas to stay physically fit? Regardless of how Alpha-1 affects you, exercise can help prevent your condition from worsening and may even help improve your quality of life in the long run.

Whether you are liver affected, lung affected, or are currently a healthy Alpha, exercise can help you. Read on to learn the importance of maintaining a regular workout regimen, regardless of your current level of fitness or how your Alpha-1 affects you.

Liver-Affected Alphas

In liver-affected Alphas, the alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) that is produced in the liver and is supposed to leave the liver to protect the lungs from damage instead remains trapped within the liver. This accumulation of misfolded AAT in the liver cells appears to make individuals more susceptible to other factors that may injure the liver. Other forms of liver injury are also likely to be more severe in someone with Alpha-1 than if the disease was present in the general population. Therefore, liver-affected Alphas need to be sure that risk factors for other liver conditions are avoided. Currently, there is no specific treatment for Alpha-1 liver disease, so the best way to manage liver disease is to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

According to the Big Fat Reference Guide (BFRG), the greatest risk to a person’s liver health is the metabolic syndrome associated with obesity. With metabolic syndrome, fat tends to accumulate in liver cells causing a fatty liver which is a medical condition associated with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH. Risk factors for NASH include obesity, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, diabetes, and hypertension, so it is important that Alphas with these conditions do whatever they can to improve their health. Having a fatty liver exacerbates the liver damage done by Alpha-1 and is associated with the development of other health risk factors like diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.

Because Alpha-1 liver damage does not appear to be related to a lack of AAT in the blood, the standard treatment for Alpha-1, augmentation therapy, is not used in the treatment of liver disease. Instead, health management for liver-affected Alphas must focus on preventing the general complications of chronic liver disease and on the rapid and effective treatment of problems that cannot be avoided. Exercise is one of the best ways to maintain a healthy weight and metabolism and to help your body avoid the many conditions that can further damage your liver.

Lung-Affected Alphas

Lung-affected Alphas also have much to gain by maintaining a regular exercise routine. While many lung-affected Alphas may tend to shy away from physical exertion as a way to minimize their discomfort, this lack of physical activity only depletes their capacity for exercise more and can lead to even greater physical disability. Progressive deconditioning is the term that describes the loss of physical fitness that comes with gradually decreased physical activity. The less you move and use your body, the less you will be able to do over time. In order to prevent this, it is crucial to make exercise a part of your routine and motivate yourself to engage in some kind of physical activity each day.

If you are an Alpha with lung disease, you should first obtain a medical evaluation for cardiac risk and exercise capacity from your physician before starting any new exercise program. This will help you to address any health concerns you may have from the start and will also help ensure that the exercise regimen you have chosen will not exacerbate your condition. Based on your current pulmonary function level, you may want to consider starting pulmonary rehabilitation before developing a fitness routine of your own. If you are a severely lung-affected Alpha and want to start getting active and building up your lung function, ask your doctor if you are a good candidate to enroll in a pulmonary rehab program. In these programs, your lung function will be assessed by a team of medical experts and you will receive personalized recommendations for improvement based on your starting lung function and fitness level. You then perform these exercises in a controlled environment under supervision so that any improvements or adjustments can be made to help you reap the maximum possible benefits of your workouts. These exercises often include low impact cardio activities like walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike and can be aided by the use of supplementary oxygen.

While exercise cannot reverse the damage already done by lung disease, it can help improve the way you feel and the way your lungs function. One of the most significant benefits of exercise training for Alphas with lung disease is its positive effect on dyspnea, or shortness of breath. Dyspnea affects almost all individuals with lung disease and can greatly limit a patient’s ability to perform daily tasks. Exercise can help Alphas with moderate to severe lung disease by improving their endurance, breathing efficiency, and reducing the experience of dyspnea. An exercise routine that specifically helps to improve an Alpha’s tolerance to exertion can produce significant improvements in both cardiovascular and pulmonary function. Regular exercise can benefit both healthy individuals, as well as those with moderate to severe lung disease.

Asymptomatic Alphas

While asymptomatic Alphas may not have to worry about managing their Alpha-1 symptoms in the same way as lung or liver-affected Alphas do, their Alpha health can still benefit greatly from exercise.

In the long run, exercise can help you to:

• Increase your muscle strength and endurance
• Promote improved blood circulation and efficient oxygenation
• Reduce the workload on heart and lungs
• Manage your weight
• Reduces anxiety and risk of depression
• Improve your sleep
• Improve cognition
• Reduce the risk of many types of cancer

While exercising on a regular basis helps you to:

• Control blood sugar levels
• Promote improved physical function
• Boost the immune system to fight infections
• Decrease the risk of developing heart disease
• Strengthen the bones
• Increase life span

A solid fitness regimen can aid asymptomatic Alphas in maintaining their health by helping them to maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI), as well as increase their strength and endurance. As mentioned earlier, certain conditions associated with Alpha-1 like liver disease have no specific treatment options, so prevention truly is your body’s best defense.

Resources for All Alphas

Remember to always consult your physician before starting a new exercise regimen. Once you get the okay to start your workouts, gradually increase the length and difficulty of your workouts to build up strength and endurance over time. No matter what your current fitness level is, small actions every day can result in massive improvements in the long run so don’t be afraid to start with baby steps. Please explore the BFRG articles below to learn more about the benefits of fitness for Alphas and find out what kinds of exercises you should incorporate into your routine.

Sources:

https://subscriber.alphanet.org/s/article/6-10-8-getting-started-general-exercise-guidelines
https://subscriber.alphanet.org/s/article/6-10-9-monitoring-your-exercise-sessions
https://subscriber.alphanet.org/s/article/6-10-12-cardiopulmonary-training-endurance-training