Intense exercise, such as running a marathon, could cause a decrease in a fat substance that covers neurons and facilitates their operation, Myelinaccording to a study conducted by Spanish researchers that collects Natura Metabolism.
Intense physical exercise forces the human body To resort to their energy reserves, first to carbohydrates and subsequently to fats how much the former run out.
Myelin, which acts as a neuronal insulator, is mainly composed of Lipidsand previous studies with mice had already indicated that it could also act as an energy reserve in extreme metabolic conditions.
Look too:
Study in marathon corridors: impact on the brain
To prove the same in humans, the researchers made magnetic resonances to ten marathon runners (eight men and two women) before and 48 hours after they made a 26 -mile race.
The test was repeated two weeks after the race, and two months later.
After two weeks, the scientists saw that myelin concentrations had increased substantially, but had not yet reached the levels prior to the race, and that the lost myelin was totally recovered two months after the marathon.
Myelin reduction affected 12 White matter areas of the brain related to motor coordination and sensory and emotional integration.
The authors conclude that myelin can be considered a source of energy when other brain nutrients are exhausted during intense physical exercise.
The study, they warn, has limitations, since the sample size is small and it is necessary Neurophysiological and cognitive functions associated with those brain regions.
Look too:
Unknown consequences
Scientific evidence shows that moderate exercise provides numerous health benefits is very solid. However, the consequences of the extreme exercise, whose practice has been increasing in recent years are, in large part, unknown, ”says Eduard Guasch, a cardiac electrophisiologist at the Clinic Barcelona Hospital, northeast of Spain, in a reaction collected by Science Media Center Spain.
Guash explains that the extreme exercise generates an overload and a much larger and longer hemodynamic and energy stress to the body, even generating a transitory pro -inflammatory period after exercise.
Look too:
Long -term impact: marathons and neurological health
In the case of this study, it indicates that “the most important thing would be to identify whether this reduction in myelin – for intense exercise – has a short and long term clinical impact.” In their opinion, they should be studied what the long -term consequences would be, especially in highly trained athletes that complete several annual marathons, potentially without recovering myelin levels prior to the race.
The expert recalls that there are studies that indicate that, at the cardiovascular level, Each exercise episode Of very high intensity could inflict a microdaño to the heart, and its accumulation over the years would be the substrate for development in a few arrhythmias athletes.
(With EFE information)
Related:
