Wetenschap en waterpolo
1983
Exaggerated systolic blood pressure response to exercise in a water polo team.
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1984 Jun;16(3):294-8.
Dlin RA, Dotan R, Inbar O, Rotstein A, Jacobs I, Karlsson J.
Twenty-three top-level water polo players (WP) were examined for blood pressure (BP) response to graded and continuous cycle ergometry. Testing also included resting muscle biopsy for fiber typing, exercise ECG recording for heart rate (HR), exercise concentrations of blood lactate (LA), measured VO2max, and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE). A control group (C), whose subjects were physically active in endurance sports, but were older and less fit than the experimental subjects, was tested by an identical protocol. The BP response to exercise was significantly higher in the WP group at all comparison criteria including onset of blood lactate accumulation, absolute HR, percent of HRmax, and power loads (including loadless pedaling). To date, we are unaware of other reports on whole groups of sportsmen showing an exaggerated BP response to exercise. While it would appear from previous studies that normotensive individuals showing such a response are at a greater risk of developing hypertension, the significance of this BP response in highly-trained athletes in a specific sport remains unclear.
A marathon: the immediate effect on female runners' luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, prolactin, testosterone, and cortisol levels.
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1983 Jul 1;146(5):550-6.
Hale RW, Kosasa T, Krieger J, Pepper S.
This study was designed to measure the changes that occur in luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), prolactin, testosterone, and cortisol levels in women at the immediate conclusion of a marathon and to compare the results with those in women on the United States Women's Water Polo Team at the conclusion of a strenuous practice session. Thirty-one women runners were included in this study, and each woman served as her own control. Thirteen women were studied from the United States Women's Water Polo Team. In the postmarathon group, cortisol levels showed a mean increase of 211% (p = less than 0.005), FSH levels were unchanged; LH levels, contrary to other published reports, were reduced by 36% (p = less than 0.005); and prolactin levels showed a mean increase of 327% (p = less than 0.005). These results were analyzed in the age groups 20 to 30, 30 to 40, and 41 +. All age groups had similar changes. In members of the United States Women's Water Polo Team, there were no significant changes in cortisol, FSH, LH, or testosterone levels. Prolactin levels showed an average increase of 70% (p = less than 0.002). These data indicate that acute exercise by running a marathon does alter the immediate hormonal profile. The data also indicate that acute exercise in an aquatic program results in a different response.