This article examines three questions related to exercise immunology: 1) Can exercise
attenuate changes in the immune system related to aging? The few research papers available
suggest that the answer may be “yes”, but exercise training may have to be long-term
and of sufficient volume to induce changes in body weight and fitness before any change
in immunity can be expected in old age. 2) Is the athlete an immunocompromised host?
For most athletes, probably not, although the answer may be 'yes' during certain periods
when the athlete exceeds normal training limits or competes in endurance events. Most
studies have reported that the immune systems of athletes and nonathletes in the resting
state are more similar than disparate with the exception of natural killer cell activity
which tends to be elevated in athletes. Infection risk may be more related to the
acute changes in immunity that occur following heavy exercise, but this hypothesis
has not been sufficiently studied. 3) Are nutrition supplements effective countermeasures
to exercise-induced inflammation and immunosuppression? Except for carbohydrate, the
answer at this time for all other nutrients studied is 'no'. While data from the vitamin
and mineral studies have been negative, and those involving glutamine conflicting,
several investigations indicate that carbohydrate compared to placebo ingestion is
associated with attenuated hormonal and immune responses.
Aging, lymphocyte, neutrophil, respiratory infection, carbohydrate, vitamin C, glutamine,
cytokines.
