Search

The Beijing Olympics will begin in August 2008 and athletes will face an unpredictable challenge. Based on present data, Beijing is one of the most polluted megacities in the world; the air concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), ozone, nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter approach or exceed the current limits established by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although the athletes who will be competing in Beijing are physiologically very different to the participants in most published studies, and it is therefore difficult to predict individual responses, there is little doubt that the presence of these air pollutants might be detrimental to athletic performance due to the marked increase (up to 20-fold) in ventilatory rate and concomitant nasal and oral breathing. Moreover, mouth breathing often bypasses the noise during strenuous exercise, increasing the deleterious effects of pollutants on health and athletic performance. Although limited, each decrement in athletic performance would have a potentially deleterious impact on top-class athletes competing in the next Olympics in China. Several Olympic records are regularly broken during the Olympics. Will this be the case for Beijing? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an investigation of the metabolism of procalcitonin (PCT) in male athletes during aerobic physical exercise. A one-way analysis of variance revealed an increase of PCT values over the pre-run values after the half-marathon run, which continued to rise six hours and 24 hours after the run. It is concluded that a subintensive aerobic activity has an acute influence on the PCT levels of healthy, middle-aged trained individuals.

The article discusses the effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on athletes. NSAIDs were the most commonly used drugs of Canadian athletes. They used it to treat banal disorders such as cold and flu as well as in alleviating pain, swelling and disabilities associated with injuries or contusions. However, NSAIDs can also cause severely clinically significant adverse effects. Aspirin-like drugs prevents the production of prostaglandins, which protect the stomach mucosa from damage by hydrochloric acid, maintain kidney function and aggregate platelets when required.

This article focuses on gene manipulation and improvement of athletic performances. Aerobic athletic performances are greatly improved by optimization of mechanisms of oxygen transport and delivery to peripheral tissues and muscles. There are both lawful and banned methods to achieve better muscular oxygenation; of these, the administration of erythropoiesis stimulating molecules, namely human recombinant erythropoietin or NESP, has been widely used by endurance athletes since the early 1990's. However, the introduction of a reliable laboratory test to detect blood doping with rHuEpo or derivatives has forced athletes to rely on alternative techniques, including blood and gene doping.