This blog features Dr. David Nieman’s career researching exercise and the immune system, including data that shows physically active people have a 40-50% reduction in the number of days they are sick with acute respiratory infections. The blog further notes that “a good rule of thumb is to limit sustained exercise (greater than 60% effort, which means 60% of your max heart rate) to no more than 60 minutes at a time.”

In this Q&A, Appalachian State University’s Dr. David Nieman answers whether people should work out when sick. In short, no — “sick people wrongly think they can ‘exercise the virus out of the system’ or ‘sweat it out,’ that’s a myth. It’s actually the opposite,” he says. Nieman is a health professor and director of the Human Performance Lab.

On The State of Things podcast, Dr. Dominique Hammonds is interviewed about the mental health effects of the coronavirus outbreak. She is an assistant professor in the Department of human Development and Psychological Counseling at Appalachian State University and has a private practice in Hickory.

Appalachian State University is among four universities receiving Flash Grants from NCBiotech to pursue research projects that show early indications of commercial potential. Appalachian received $20,000 to develop a new method of stabilizing insulin so it can be shipped and stored at room temperature, which would reduce the medicine’s cost.

Dr. Alan Needle in Appalachian State University’s Beaver College of Health Sciences explains how researchers are trying to better understand the relationship between injuries and brain function.

Gratitude — the ability to be thankful for what you have or experience — carries significant weight toward our general wellbeing, according to recent research. Sarah Martin, MSN, RN, of Appalachian State University’s Beaver College of Health Sciences explains how.