Interesting health study

This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.
Would the training benefits offset the damage done by the pollutants?
Hopefully someone here has some thoughts on this.
Bill C

TritonRider wrote:

This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.
Would the training benefits offset the damage done by the pollutants?
Hopefully someone here has some thoughts on this.
Bill C



I'm certain I've heard of studies like this. I also seem to remember
that it tended to support moderate exercise even in polluted
environments (with the caveat that one should preferably exercise early
in the day, when IIRC ozone and nitrogen oxides and particulates would
be somewhat lower in level).
However, this would be one of those studies that mean less that it
would seem, because how one calculates the real risk of pollution varies
so much from individual to individual.
To give an extreme example, giving a blanket endorsement of this kind
to an asthmatic patient would be irresponsible in the extreme. It may
also be that living close to factories could be associated with other
risk factors, such as poverty, pre-existing pulmonary disease, etc.

Steve

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001

TritonRider wrote:

This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.
Would the training benefits offset the damage done by the pollutants?
Hopefully someone here has some thoughts on this.
Bill C



I'm certain I've heard of studies like this. I also seem to remember
that it tended to support moderate exercise even in polluted
environments (with the caveat that one should preferably exercise early
in the day, when IIRC ozone and nitrogen oxides and particulates would
be somewhat lower in level).
However, this would be one of those studies that mean less that it
would seem, because how one calculates the real risk of pollution varies
so much from individual to individual.
To give an extreme example, giving a blanket endorsement of this kind
to an asthmatic patient would be irresponsible in the extreme. It may
also be that living close to factories could be associated with other
risk factors, such as poverty, pre-existing pulmonary disease, etc.

Steve

--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001

"TritonRider" wrote in message
...
This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a
US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance
athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.

My allergies get much worse as my training volume goes up. Also, this makes
me recall the "controversy" of the percentage of athletes relative to the
greater population that use meds for asthma. Why is it so hard to beleive
that there will be larger number of cases when this group clearly uses their
lungs a lot more and at rates that pushes some of these organs to their
limits?

Would the training benefits offset the damage done by the pollutants?
Hopefully someone here has some thoughts on this.
Bill C

"TritonRider" wrote in message
...
This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a
US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance
athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.

My allergies get much worse as my training volume goes up. Also, this makes
me recall the "controversy" of the percentage of athletes relative to the
greater population that use meds for asthma. Why is it so hard to beleive
that there will be larger number of cases when this group clearly uses their
lungs a lot more and at rates that pushes some of these organs to their
limits?

Would the training benefits offset the damage done by the pollutants?
Hopefully someone here has some thoughts on this.
Bill C

"TritonRider" wrote in message
...
This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a
US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance
athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.
Would the training benefits offset the damage done by the pollutants?
Hopefully someone here has some thoughts on this.
Bill C


And how much training is done near traffic (higer concentration of
pollutants)? On the up side I read somewhere that riding along side traffic
can increase you avg speed.

-p

"TritonRider" wrote in message
...
This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a
US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance
athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.
Would the training benefits offset the damage done by the pollutants?
Hopefully someone here has some thoughts on this.
Bill C


And how much training is done near traffic (higer concentration of
pollutants)? On the up side I read somewhere that riding along side traffic
can increase you avg speed.

-p

"Chris" wrote in message
. ..

"TritonRider" wrote in message
...
This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a
US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance
athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.

My allergies get much worse as my training volume goes up. Also, this
makes
me recall the "controversy" of the percentage of athletes relative to the
greater population that use meds for asthma. Why is it so hard to beleive
that there will be larger number of cases when this group clearly uses
their
lungs a lot more and at rates that pushes some of these organs to their
limits?

I don't disagree, but athletes are more likely to seek asthma meds than your
average person who doesn't feel the effects of asthma as much, or isn't
bothered by the effects as much.

-WG

"Chris" wrote in message
. ..

"TritonRider" wrote in message
...
This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a
US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance
athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.

My allergies get much worse as my training volume goes up. Also, this
makes
me recall the "controversy" of the percentage of athletes relative to the
greater population that use meds for asthma. Why is it so hard to beleive
that there will be larger number of cases when this group clearly uses
their
lungs a lot more and at rates that pushes some of these organs to their
limits?

I don't disagree, but athletes are more likely to seek asthma meds than your
average person who doesn't feel the effects of asthma as much, or isn't
bothered by the effects as much.

-WG

"TritonRider" wrote in message
...
This was just linked to over at URC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3991633.stm
Air pollution caused by traffic and factories may cause heart disease, a
US
study suggests.

I wonder how much more intense the effects would be in an endurance
athlete
due to moving that much larger a volume of bad air through their lungs
regularly.
Would the training benefits offset the damage done by the pollutants?
Hopefully someone here has some thoughts on this.
Bill C


I'll do some digging and see if I can locate the article I read this past
summer in our local paper. It talked specifically about high ozone levels
and athletic activity. It concluded that it was potentially quite harmful
(long term) to exercise during an ozone alert. The article was quite
specific about the kinds of damage that would be done. It was quite a
compelling case and I steered clear of some late afternoon club rides and
training sessions during the hot and hazy days of July and August.

Though I live in a remote, rural area, I'm about 2 1/2 hours down the
prevailing wind from Atlanta. Usually you can only smell cows around here.
Sometimes you can smell Atlanta.

Bob C.