The elite athlete paradox: how running a marathon can make you ill

Although exercise is good for you, when that exercise is extremely intense – for example during the training and completion of a hard race – the immune system is supressed, leaving an open window for infection

On 1 March 1987, thousands of runners took to the streets of Los Angeles for the annual city marathon, unaware that many of them were about to provide crucial evidence for a study that would inspire three decades of research into the relationship between exercise and the immune system.

Monitoring the race closely was David Nieman, a scientist at Appalachian State University in North Carolina, and a keen marathon runner himself with a PB of 2:37. Nieman had become interested in the connection between intense exercise and our susceptibility to colds or viruses some years earlier after suffering a debilitating bout of flu while at the peak of his training for an upcoming race.

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from Health & wellbeing | The Guardian http://ift.tt/1JxFryb
via health