Extreme exercise linked to blood poisoning
Dr Ricardo Costa from the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics has led a study showing that extreme exercise can cause intestinal bacteria to leak into the bloodstream, leading to blood poisoning.
Experts at Monash University monitored people participating in a range of extreme endurance events, including 24-hour ultra-marathons and multi-stage ultra-marathons, run on consecutive days.
"Blood samples taken before and after the events, compared with a control group, proved that exercise over a prolonged period of time causes the gut wall to change, allowing the naturally present bacteria, known as endotoxins, in the gut to leak into the bloodstream. This then triggers a systemic inflammatory response from the body’s immune cells, similar to a serious infection episode.
Significantly the study found that individuals who are fit, healthy and follow a steady training program to build up to extreme endurance events, develop immune mechanisms to counteract this, without any side effects.
However individuals who take part in extreme endurance events, especially in the heat and with little training, put their bodies under enormous strain above the body’s protective capacity. With elevated levels of endotoxins in the blood, the immune system’s response can be far greater than the body’s protective counter-action. In extreme cases, it leads to sepsis induced systemic inflammatory response syndrome, which can be fatal if it is not diagnosed and treated promptly.
The stud is the first to identify a link between extreme endurance exercise and the stress it may place on gut integrity.
“Nearly all of the participants in our study had blood markers identical to patients admitted to hospital with sepsis. That’s because the bacterial endotoxins that leach into the blood as a result of extreme exercise, triggers the body’s immune cells into action.”
Read more on the Monash News website.