By Allan Sison, Medical Tribune News Service
According to researchers in Oklahoma, athletes are more prone to
suffer from heartburn and other gastrointestinal problems than the
general public.
Three studies, conducted by the Oklahoma Foundation for
Digestive Research in Oklahoma City and the University of Oklahoma
Department of Health and Sport Sciences in Norman, focused on the
gastrointestinal symptoms of athletes.
One study found that 72 percent of the 319 athletes studied
experienced one or more lower bowel symptoms, such as diarrhea,
after exercise, while 43 percent suffered from heartburn-related
symptoms. Scientists found not only that gastrointestinal problems
are common in athletes, but also that their exercise level
correlates with the intensity of their symptoms.
Two other studies focused specifically on cyclists and
weightlifters as separate populations. Each group was studied in
two individual trials before, during and after exercising. The
athletes ate a meal before exercising in the first trial, but
exercised on an empty stomach in the second.
Scientists found that nine out of the ten cyclists studied
suffered from mild acid reflux, a condition where acid from the
stomach travels back up the esophagus, causing discomfort and the
malady commonly known as heartburn. The researchers also found that
the condition got worse after eating. In the weightlifting group,
they found that activity resulted in moderate to severe acid
reflux.
Their research was presented on Monday at the Annual Scientific
Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in Phoenix,
Ariz.
``[The study] originally came about because of my interest and
the Foundation's interest in different causes for reflux within the
athletic population,'' said Pierce Pratt, clinical research
coordinator at the Foundation and member of the research team.
Researchers both mailed out and brought surveys to athletic
competitions throughout Oklahoma, focusing specifically on runners,
cyclists and weightlifters.
Pratt noted that running and the lower bowel problems associated
with the sport, such as diarrhea, have been extensively studied.
``Just from some brief surveys that we had done with cyclists and
weightlifters, we discovered that one of their complaints that is
most often reported is heartburn,'' Pratt continued. ``We wanted to
try and figure out why there is a difference between those three
athletic endeavors.''
Dr. Philip Miner, president and medical director of the
Foundation and lead researcher, said that runners were chosen for
their high level of aerobic exercise in an upright position with
gentle, rhythmic breathing, weightlifters were chosen for their
quick bursts of high-level activity and changes in body position,
and cyclists were chosen because they were believed to be in
between the runners and weightlifters in terms of symptoms.
``We were somewhat surprised by the number of symptoms we found
in these competitive athletes,'' Miner said. The most common
symptom was diarrhea, while upper gastrointestinal disorders, like
heartburn, occurred in half of the subjects.
The research team assumed that weightlifters would have a lot of
reflux because of the amount of intra-abdominal pressure built up
due to frequent body-position changes. Although normal people may
be able to reduce the severity of acid reflux by raising the head
of the bed while sleeping, Miner and his colleagues were surprised
to find that weightlifters were subjected to a similar amount of
reflux regardless of whether they were standing or lying down.
``There may be some compensating mechanisms that athletes have
during exercise that allow them to prevent this increase in reflux
that we might anticipate,'' Miner said. ``Identifying those factors
would have important implications for athletic training.''
Miner said that the first study showed that gastrointestinal
symptoms are very high in competitive athletes. ``Controlling these
symptoms may enhance [athletes'] performance,'' he added.
``Additional research ... is important to help improve their
long-term performance.''
