Physical activity has been shown to be a beneficial stimulus to the central and peripheral nervous systems. The S100B is a cytokine physiologically produced and released predominantly by astrocytes on the central nervous system (CNS). In order to study the possible influence of a nonimpact exercise on S100B serum levels, ...

BACKGROUND: Exercise is one of the most common precipitant of acute asthma encountered in clinical practice. To determine frequency of Exercise-induced Bronchospasm (EIB) in male athletes, who had represented or were aspiring to represent at national and/or international level. Athletes of different departments and institutes, district, provincial and national squad ...

AIM: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of sports training on the ovarian cycle of athletes of various disciplines, and of non-athletes, their participation and their performance in competition as well as the appearance of symptoms of discomfort pre and during the duration of menstruation. METHODS: ...

Inter-individual variation in endurance performance capacity is a characteristic, not only of the general population, but also in trained athletes. The ability of sport scientists to predict which athletes amongst an elite group will become world-class is limited. We do not fully understand the interactions between biological factors, training, recovery ...

INTRODUCTION: The effect of decreased physical activity with reduced gravitational stress on activity, sensitivity, and reactivity of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is not fully recognized. We hypothesized that the effect is most pronounced in physically active subjects. Thus, basal plasma norepinephrine [NE] and epinephrine [E], and catecholamine responses to ...

INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE: Although the beneficial health effects of regular moderate exercise are well established, there is substantial evidence that the heavy training and racing carried out by endurance athletes can cause skeletal muscle damage. This damage is repaired by satellite cells that can undergo a finite number of cell divisions. In ...

There has been a substantial increase in women practicing sports over the past 30 yr. While exercise provides many health benefits, there appears to be a unique set of risks associated with intense exercise for the female athlete. The female athlete triad encompasses these risks, including amenorrhea, osteoporosis and eating ...

The aim of this study was to compare the climbing-specific finger endurance of climbers, rowers and aerobically leg trained athletes. Twenty-seven males aged 21.2 +/- 2.2 years (mean +/- s) volunteered for the study. The participants were intermediate rock climbers (n = 9), rowers (n = 9) and leg trained ...

This study aimed to look at the prevalence and type of respiratory symptoms experienced by athletes and to assess the possible influence on the perception of symptoms of training duration and environment. A group of 698 athletes (107 with diagnosed or self-reported asthma) filled out a questionnaire on their respiratory ...

It may seem logical to place restrictions on athletes with epilepsy, but there are no studies to suggest that even contact sports exacerbate seizures, and there is ample evidence that exercise reduces seizure frequency and improves well-being. Thus, sports participation should generally be encouraged for epilepsy patients. The risk-benefit analysis ...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Despite much current debate regarding central and peripheral neural mechanisms which may be responsible for the onset of fatigue during prolonged exercise, maintenance of nutritional and hydration status remains critical for successful participation in ultra-endurance exercise. This review focuses on substrate and fluid homeostasis during ultra-endurance exercise ...

Prolactin blood levels are modulated directly by CNS via the known tubero-infundibular dopaminergic neurons which exert an inhibitory action on lactotrope cells in the hypophysis. Prolactin is devoid of peripheral negative feedback and via lesser known central pathways (e.g., mesolimbic and mesocortical) might be further tuned by means of appropriate ...

Medical coverage of endurance events requires knowledge of conditions that are specific to, or present differently in, endurance athletes. Serious conditions such as hyponatremia and rhabdomyolysis, and heat illnesses such as hypo- and hyperthermia, need to be accurately and quickly separated from more benign conditions such as exercise-associated collapse.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Strategies based on the use of upper thresholds of hemoglobin or hematocrit to detect blood doping in endurance sports have essentially failed to deter this malpractice. With the aim of establishing a more effective strategy, we analyzed the biological variations of hematologic parameters in professional athletes and ...

In athletes with upper respiratory infections (URIs), the question of who plays and who sits can be difficult to answer. Acute exercise suppresses several aspects of the immune system. None of these immunologic changes, however, consistently correlate with the incidence of URIs in athletes. The risk of infection with exercise ...

Athletes with hypertension are frequently encountered in clinical settings and during preparticipation examinations. This common condition merits special attention in athletes, as they have particular physiologic and sport-specific demands. Awareness of the pressor response to both isometric and isotonic exercise is valuable in managing hypertensive athletes. Recommendations regarding physical activity ...

PURPOSE: determine the effect of formoterol and salbutamol on the arterial oxygen saturation (SaO(2)) of highly trained nonasthmatic athletes with exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia (EIAH). METHODS: Ten male athletes (age = 27.1 +/- 0.7, [OV0312]O(2max) = 65.2 +/- 2.5 mL.kg-1.min-1, SaO(2min) = 91.0 +/- 2.1%) with minimal bronchial reactivity to aerosols ...

Exercise-associated collapse (EAC) is the most common reason that athletes are treated in the medical tent following an endurance event. The pathophysiology of EAC is postural hypotension that results when the loss of muscle pumping action caused by the cessation of exercise is combined with cutaneous vasodilation. EAC usually occurs ...

Spectral analysis of heart rate variability has become a noninvasive standard method for assessment of autonomic nervous system activity in athletes. The effect of exercise training on autonomic regulation of pupillary light reflex is not known. The purpose of this study was to evaluate pupil autonomic function in athletes. We ...

PURPOSE: In humans, cardiac morphological adaptations to athletic training have been exhaustively described, while the existence of morphologic (adaptive) changes in the peripheral vessels are less well known. Therefore, the scope of the present study was 1) to assess the existence of morphologic changes in the peripheral vessels, such as ...

A high prevalence of asthma has been reported in athletes. However, studies in this population usually show an even higher prevalence of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB). This report compares studies on self-reported or physician-diagnosed asthma in athletes with those using objective measures of airflow limitation or airway ...

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Diagnosis and medical intervention for exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB) are often based on self-reported symptoms, without spirometric confirmation. Inspiratory stridor (IS), a symptom of vocal cord dysfunction (VCD), is frequently mistaken for EIB wheeze. Athletes with exercise IS that spontaneously resolves on activity cessation are suspect for VCD and ...

PURPOSE: Athletes with locomotor disabilities (LDA) participate in many competitive sport activities, yet little is known about sport-related muscle pain (SRMP). This study assessed the prevalence, determinants, and main characteristics of SRMP in LDA. METHODS: A cross-disability epidemiological survey was used to investigate the occurrence of SRMP during the previous ...

This study aimed at determining the frequency of respiratory symptoms in high-level athletes and whether respiratory questionnaires are reliable predictors of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) in this population compared with control subjects. One hundred high-level athletes exercising in different conditions of ambient air (dry, humid, cold or mixed dry and humid) ...

Sports medicine practitioners who care for a wide array of athletes and active individuals will consistently face issues regarding chronic cardiovascular diseases and their associated risk factors. Among these, hypertension, obesity, and dyslipidemia are common clinical conditions that may be encountered even amongst elite caliber athletes. Consequently, those entrusted with ...

This article reviews the potential effects of the female steroid hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle on exercise performance. The measurement of estrogen and progesterone concentration to verify menstrual cycle phase is a major consideration in this review. However, even when hormone concentrations are measured, the combination of differences in ...

Most physiological testing of athletes is performed in well-controlled situations in the laboratory. Multiple factors that are hard to control for have limited the use of sport-specific field testing. Recently, the technique of the differential global positioning system (dGPS) has been put forward as a way to monitor the position ...

The unexplained underperformance syndrome (UPS), previously known as the overtraining syndrome (OTS), has been defined as a persistent decrement in athletic performance capacity despite 2 weeks of relative rest. It has been proposed that UPS may be caused by excessive cytokine release during and following exercise causing a chronic inflammatory ...

'Warm-up' activity is almost universally performed by athletes prior to their participation in training or competition. However, relatively little is known about the optimal intensity and duration for such exercise, or about the potential mechanisms primed by warm-up that might enhance performance. Recent studies demonstrate that vigorous warm-up exercise that ...

The hearts and lungs of athletes are subject to damage from a wide array of infections and environmental factors. Mild to moderate exercise has been shown to be beneficial to overall health, and strenuous exercise simply requires proper rest and rehabilitation to ensure its beneficial effects as well. Simple colds ...

PURPOSE: The asthmatic airway responds to exercise by bronchodilation (BD) during and bronchoconstriction (BC) after exercise. A refractory period induced by an initial exercise challenge that provides protection against BC during a subsequent exercise bout has also been observed. However, no studies examining during-exercise response or refractoriness during long-duration field ...

Cognitive behavioral stress management (CBSM) has previously been found to reduce fatigue, depression, and cortisol response to heavy exercise training among competitive collegiate athletes and to speed physical and psychological recovery from surgery. Our study assessed the efficacy of a CBSM program to reduce the frequency of injury and illness ...

The pineal hormone, melatonin, has widespread effects on the body. The aim of this review is to consider the specific interactions between melatonin and human physiological functions associated with sport and exercise medicine. Separate researchers have reported that melatonin concentrations increase, decrease and remain unaffected by bouts of exercise. Such ...

The present study analyzed the amount of photographic coverage devoted to high school athletics over 1 year. Previous research pertaining to sex differences in newspaper coverage of sports has focused on the amount of written coverage given. Present findings indicated that, as with written coverage given female athletes, photographic coverage ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether athletes with a history of low back pain (LBP) would, on average, perform slower on a timed 20-m shuttle run as compared with a normal athletic population. DESIGN: A timed shuttle run to evaluate residual functional limitations in college athletes with resolved LBP. SETTING: National College ...

Surveys indicate that up to 15% of the equine population in the United States is older than 20 years of age, with many of these animals performing various athletic activities well into their 20s. As is the case with their human counterparts, these geriatric equine athletes have the ability to ...

PURPOSE: The distinctive nature of left ventricular (LV) adaptation reported in able-bodied endurance- and power-trained athletes probably reflects the different hemodynamic loading patterns that occur during acute exercise. The exercise-induced hemodynamic loads in spinal cord injured athletes are different to those in able-bodied counterparts (lower venous return and stroke volume, ...

Activable enriched stable isotopes can play a unique role in studies of nutritional status, metabolism, absorption rates, and bioavailability of minerals. As a practical example, eight juvenile athletes were selected to test the absorption rates of iron during training and non-training periods by enriched stable isotope of Fe-58 (enriched degree: ...

BACKGROUND: Limited research has been done on head blows that may result in mild traumatic brain injury in Taekwondo. The purpose of this study was to investigate the fighting conditions under which blows to the head commonly take place, with a view to determining the typical conditions under which injury ...

OBJECTIVE: To describe a treatment strategy for paradoxical vocal-cord dysfunction (PVCD) as it applies to an athletic population. BACKGROUND: Paradoxical vocal-cord dysfunction has been identified as a cause of dyspnea and stridor in athletes. The basic element of PVCD is an inappropriate closure of the vocal cords during respiration, resulting ...

This study explores the importance of creatine kinase (CK) in the regulation of muscle mitochondrial respiration in human subjects depending on their level of physical activity. Volunteers were classified as sedentary, active or athletic according to the total activity index as determined by the Baecke questionnaire in combination with maximal ...

The care of athletes with concussions is challenging because each patient has different symptoms. An athlete should never be returned to play until completely asymptomatic. Classification systems for concussions are not based on scientific evidence and represent some practitioners' best guess at what is safe for young athletes. Many experienced ...

Since its first description in 1985, two opposing theories have evolved to explain the etiology of symptomatic hyponatremia of exercise. The first holds that the condition occurs only in athletes who lose both water and sodium during exercise, and fail to fully replace their sodium losses. The second theory holds ...

A well-balanced diet with appropriate training is the key to maximizing athletic performance. Nutritional counseling should be an essential part of anticipatory guidance, especially for certain teens, such as those who are vegetarians or those with low-calorie intakes. Other considerations for anticipatory guidance are listed in Box 8. Adequate hydration ...

Traditionally, high-carbohydrate diets have been recommended for endurance and ultra-endurance athletes. For many endurance events, the habitual consumption of a high-carbohydrate diet, with supplemental carbohydrate before and during exercise, is appropriate for many athletes. However, there are some situations for which alternative dietary options are beneficial. Diets relatively higher in ...

This case study describes the process of examination, re-examination, and intervention for a collegiate runner with mechanical thoracic pain preventing athletic participation and limiting daily function. Unimpaired function fully returned in less than 3 weeks with biweekly sessions to re-establish normal and painfree thoracic mechanics via postural hygiene, exercise, mobilization, ...

Exercise has many potential benefits for young children, and opportunities for activity programs should be made available to as many children as possible. With the marked increase in more intense exercise patterns and early specialization in sports, however, more injuries can occur. Efforts to train young athletes should be made ...

We examined whether lung inflammatory mediators are increased during exercise and whether pharmacological blockade can prevent exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia (EIAH) in young athletes. Seventeen healthy athletes (9 men, 8 women; age 23 +/- 3 yr) with varying degrees of EIAH completed maximal incremental treadmill exercise tests after administration of fexofenadine, ...

Objective: Anabolic steroid precursors have gained widespread popularity as ergogenic supplements. Advertisements for these supplements claim that they increase endogenous testosterone production and protein synthesis, resulting in increased lean body mass and strength during training. At this time scientific support is limited, but the potential for serious side effects exists ...

AIMS: Exercise-related syncopal spells in athletes receive great attention and are a source of anxiety in the sporting world. The aim of the present study is to describe the clinical presentation, the yield of the initial diagnostic work-up and the long-term outcome of a series of consecutive competitive athletes with ...