On March 1, the Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu, warned that amateur sport would not resume "for a month".
In this interval, the approval of sports masks, suitable for indoor practice, could make it possible to “close less” gymnasiums and rooms once reopened, again according to the minister.
However, according to a scientific article published this Monday in the European journal respiratory, the masks currently in circulation are suitable for sports practice ... if there is no health problem.
The question arose to those who have practiced fitness, dance or any indoor sport: is it healthy to wear a mask during exercise?
A team of Italian researchers carried out tests on the breathing, heart activity and physical performance of twelve people who used an exercise bike with or without a mask.
While they noted differences depending on whether or not the guinea pigs wore this protection, none of their results indicated a health risk.
“Although the mask significantly reduced ventilation (Editor's note: inspiration and expiration), all values are within a normal range.
The decrease in performance is not sufficient to bring, at peak exercise, oxygen consumption to pathological or clinically significant values, ”says Elisabetta Salvioni, from the Monzino cardiology center in Milan, interviewed by Le Parisien.
The experiment was carried out with surgical masks, widely used by the general public, and FFP2 masks, worn primarily by caregivers.
Examine the impact on patients
"While waiting for more people to be vaccinated against Covid-19, this discovery could have practical implications in daily life, for example by potentially making the opening of indoor gymnasiums potentially safer," said his colleague Massimo Mapelli in a statement. , who works on cardiovascular disease at the University of Milan.
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This work today deserves to be confirmed by research on larger groups.
Especially since the twelve subjects of the study, aged on average in their forties, were all in good health.
"We have not yet performed specific research on subjects with disease, although it is reasonable to assume that patients with respiratory and cardiac syndromes may be the most likely to experience increased discomfort from use. of masks ”continues Elisabetta Salvioni.
The Monzino Heart Center plans to dig into this question.
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In the coming months, the laboratory also plans to examine the effects, in these people with difficulties, of wearing the mask when they perform various daily activities, such as climbing stairs, getting dressed, folding laundry, making a bed or to walk around.
