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The main focus of this review is illness amongst elite athletes, how and why it occurs, and whether any measures can be taken to combat it or to prevent its onset. In particular, there is particular interest in exercise-induced immunodepression which is a result of the immune system regarding exercise (for example, prolonged, exhaustive exercise) as a challenge to its function. This promotes the inflammatory response. There is often a high incidence of illness in athletes after undertaking strenuous exercise, particularly among those competing in endurance events, mainly in terms of upper respiratory tract illness (URTI) but also involving gastrointestinal problems. It may well be that this high incidence is largely due to insufficient recovery time being allowed after, e.g., a marathon, a triathlon, or other endurance events. Two examples of the incidence of URTI in moderate vs endurance exercise are provided. In recent years increasing numbers of research studies have investigated the origins, symptoms and incidence of these bouts of illness and have attempted to alleviate the symptoms with supplements, sports foods or immunonutrition. One aspect of the present review deals with iron deficiency, which has been primarily suggested to have an impact upon cell-mediated immunity. Immunonutrition is also discussed, as are new techniques for investigating links between metabolism and immune function.
© Copyright 2019 International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Human Kinetics. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.