Medical Advices Blog

Research in Sports Medicine agree that excessive practice and intense exercise can damage your lungs and even cause diseases like asthma.

We know that sport contributes to the smooth functioning of our body, it compensates for all healthy habits of contemporary man. Thanks to financial statements can be overcome by weakness, tenderness, malaise, and also diseases ranging from diabetes to psychological disorders.

However, in this symphony does not lack the discordant note that reminds us that any excess is harmful, researchers at the University of Sport and Physical Education in Norway claim, based on a study conducted among 600 thousand high-performance athletes who practice extreme sports produce negative effect on the lungs.

The result itself is surprising: one of 10 athletes from this European nation in respiratory disorders, particularly asthma, a disease characterized by narrowing of the bronchi that forces a person to develop a major effort to air to enter and exit lungs.

It is noteworthy that through this work shows that the results differ between athletes from different countries, perhaps due to climatic conditions. Thus, training in wetlands reduces the risk of becoming asthmatic, while athletes from Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark) have the highest probability of damage your lungs.

It is also concluded that these effects are accentuated over time, and lung damage may be cumulative, because while athletes with an average of 20 years of age suffer from respiratory diseases in 7% over 30 years old who have diseases to in 20% of cases.

However, the above is not the only research that reaches these conclusions. During a meeting of experts in sports medicine, held in Florence (Italy), said the long distance races like the marathon or walking, involving damage beyond normal lungs. It was also specified that the swimmers are on the blacklist, but the risk is due to experiencing a different problem: chlorine inhalation. These athletes are exposed to doses close to those set as maximum for those working in industries.

A similar result was obtained during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta (USA). There, a survey of 700 athletes (just over 16% of the participants) revealed that 117 of them had asthma, the most affected cyclists, of which 50% said they suffer from respiratory ailments.

The information presented above can be shown that the practice of high performance has a price. However, remember that sport:

- Development assistance and training of children.
- Combat depression in seniors.
- Maintains physical fitness and agility of Limbs (arms and legs).
- Contributes to strengthening the functioning of the digestive (against constipation, gastritis and colitis), respiratory (versus chronic bronchitis and asthma) and cardiovascular (to reduce nerve arrhythmias and poor circulation).
- Assists in the regular production of hormones, especially in periods of high activity such as puberty.
- Assists in the treatment of stress, anxiety, emotional problems and nervous system.
- It is recommended for people with a disability.
- Physically and mentally help the pregnant woman.
- It is an ally against obesity and excessive thinness, with or without disorders of appetite.

All without forgetting that promotes coexistence among friends and family, plus it provides an opportunity to meet people, and allows a momentary distraction from the worries, what you get peace of mind and clarity to deal with them later.

credit to: Israel Cortes