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Nutritional, immunologic and psychological responses to a 7250 km run
D J Mertens1, S Rhind, F Berkhoff
1Toronto Rehabilitation Centre, School of Physical & Health Education, University of Toronto, Canada.
Objective:
Health, nutritional status, aerobic power, mood state and immune function were studied over 112 days of aerobic activity (a 7250 km cross-Canada run).
Case Report:
a healthy nulliparous 43 yr old woman ran 65 km/day for 112 days at a 7.9 km/h pace.
Measures:
Food intake, Profile of Mood State and Beck Depression Inventory were monitored weekly. Resting lymphocyte subsets and cytokines were determined before the run, at 3324, 5700 and 7250 km, and after recovery. Clinical data, ventilatory threshold, maximal oxygen intake and immune responses to maximal exercise were obtained before and after the run.
Objective:
Health, nutritional status, aerobic power, mood state and immune function were studied over 112 days of aerobic activity (a 7250 km cross-Canada run).
Case Report:
a healthy nulliparous 43 yr old woman ran 65 km/day for 112 days at a 7.9 km/h pace.
Measures:
Food intake, Profile of Mood State and Beck Depression Inventory were monitored weekly. Resting lymphocyte subsets and cytokines were determined before the run, at 3324, 5700 and 7250 km, and after recovery. Clinical data, ventilatory threshold, maximal oxygen intake and immune responses to maximal exercise were obtained before and after the run.
Results:
Early muscle pain was treated with Ibuprofen. A mild paronychia responded to saline soaks, and exercise-induced asthma necessitated inhalation of fenoterol hydrobromide, beclomethasone diproprionate and ipatropium bromide. Food intake, (16.7 MJ/day), was 4.3 MJ/day less than expenditure, covered by metabolizing 16.7 kg of tissue (81.4% fat, 18.6% lean tissue). Ventilatory threshold and aerobic power showed little change. Initial psychological data showed tension and lack of confidence. Depression increased when crossing the Rockies, and there was anger and lack of vigor after the event. The CD8 count was low throughout; the CD25 count increased, but the CD16/56 count, IL-6 and TNF-alpha decreased over the run. Three weeks later, IL-6 had increased, but TNF-alpha remained low.
Conclusions:
Given substantial fat reserves, an exercise-induced energy deficit of 4.3 MJ/day can be sustained for 112 days without significant adverse consequences for immune function.