Role of endurance exercise in immune senescence

The immune system undergoes significant changes with advancing age. The increased incidence of malignancy, infectious disease, and autoimmune disorders with age is felt to be linked with this decline of immunocompetence. The aging process does not uniformly affect the immune system, however, and there is a high degree of individual variation. There is growing evidence that the variation in immune function among the elderly is associated at least in part with environmental factors such as nutritional status and physical activity. Although investigation of the relationship between endurance exercise and immune function in elderly subjects has just recently begun, data from the few studies available are intriguing and have potential for widespread public health influence. These data are reviewed in this paper, with directions given for future research.