Abstract
A disability determines exercise modality, movement patterns, and the amount of active skeletal muscle mass; these all affect athletic performance and generally reduce the physiological responses to exercise. As a result, people with disabilities are more prone to physical inactivity and are often at increased risk for cardiovascular and inflammation-related diseases. However, due to the wide range of physical disabilities, the physiological response to exercise is not uniform across individuals with a disability. Several factors, such as autonomic dysfunction, the extent to which active skeletal muscle mass is reduced, and the ability to increase body temperature through activity, influence the inflammatory response to exercise. Disabilities such as spinal cord injury, which are characterised by autonomic dysfunction, as well as a limited skeletal muscle mass and physical capacity to raise body temperature through exercise, may hence result in an impaired inflammatory response. Additionally, ageing may further deteriorate the inflammatory state. Whilst chronic studies in populations with disabilities are scarce, the available evidence indicates that the inflammatory resting profile is a modifiable risk factor, and exercise as well as interventions that mimic part of the exercise stimulus have been shown to result in favourable inflammatory responses across the disability spectrum.