Exercise provides many health benefits and has a significant impact on many processes in your body. For example, you affect both acute and chronic inflammation when working out. You can experience acute inflammation after exercise while reducing your overall level of systemic inflammation. Acute inflammation that occurs after exercise can cause temporary discomfort but the reduction of chronic inflammation can have a long-term, positive effect on your health.
Health Benefits of Exercise
Regular exercise can have a very positive impact on your health. Exercise can improve your mood by stimulating the production of various chemicals in the brain that promote happiness and reduce stress. In addition, exercise can protect you from chronic diseases like osteoporosis, cancer and type 2 diabetes. People who work out frequently are also able to maintain better control of their weight and tend to have an elevated energy level and sex drive.
Process of Inflammation
Youi can separate inflammation into two categories, acute inflammation which occurs over a short period of time and chronic inflammation which happens over longer time frames. Acute inflammation happens immediately following an injury. Blood flow will increase in the area around the injury, and fluid, blood proteins and white blood cells will move into the tissue. Inflammation is generally part of a healthy immune response, however, sometimes this process becomes uncontrolled. This may lead to a state of chronic inflammation that can trigger the development of diseases like atherosclerosis and cancer.
Exercise and Acute Inflammation
Strenuous exercise can cause injuries to your muscles or joints and lead to acute inflammation. You can prevent some exercise-induced injuries by avoiding overexertion and by ensuring that you use proper technique during your workout. During normal exercise, however, some small muscle tears are still likely to occur. An article published in "Sports Medicine" in 1989 provides an overview of this type of acute injury and notes that these micro-injuries are usually accompanied by delayed-onset muscular soreness and generally heal quickly.
Exercise and Chronic Inflammation
According to an article published in "Epidemiology" in 2003, systemic inflammation is a critical component in the development of cardiovascular disease. These researchers analyzed the activity and C-reactive protein levels of participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III. C-reactive protein is a biomarker that correlates with the amount of inflammation in the body. They found that the odds of having an elevated C-reactive protein level were significantly reduced in individuals who engaged in moderate to intense physical activity compared to those who did not exercise.
References
- MayoClinic; Exercise: 7 Benefits of Regular Physical Activity; July 2009
- Washington.edu: Acute Inflammation
- U.S. News & World Report; Chronic Inflammation: Reduce It to Protect Your Health; November 2009
- MayoClinic; Overuse Injury: How to Prevent Training Injuries; March 2010
- Sports Medicine; Exercise-induced Muscle Damage and Adaptation; CB Ebbeling and PM Clarkson; April 1989
- Epidemiology; Does Exercise Reduce Inflammation? Physical Activity and C-reactive Protein Among U.S. Adults; E.S. Ford; September 2002
Member Comments