BackgroundRamadan fasting is a major challenge for exercising Muslims especially in warm seasons. There is some evidence to indicate that Ramadan fasting causes higher subjective ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) in fasting Muslims. The mechanisms of this phenomenon are not known exactly. The role of respiratory muscle strength in this regard has not been studied yet.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was investigation of the effects of Ramadan fasting on respiratory muscle strength.Patients and MethodsIn a before-after study, from 35 fasting, apparently healthy, male adults who had fasted from the beginning of Ramadan, maximal inspiratory muscle pressure (MIP) and peak inspiratory flow (PIF) were measured in the last week of Ramadan month in summer. At the time of test, there was not any sleep problem in participants and all of them had good cooperation. Three months later, after exclusion of incompatible persons mainly because of change in their physical activity level, smoking behavior or drug consumption, the measurements were repeated in 12 individuals.ResultsWeight, MIP and PIF data had normal distribution (Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test). There was a significant increase in MIP (mean 8.3 cm H2O with 95% confidence interval of 2.2 - 14.3) and PIF (mean 0.55 lit/s with 95% confidence interval of 0.02 - 1.07) and weight (mean 3.4 Kg with 95% confidence interval of 2.2 - 4.5) after Ramadan (Paired t test with P < 0.05). When weight difference was used as a covariate in repeated measure ANOVA test, there was no further significant difference between MIP and PIF measurements.ConclusionsRamadan fasting may cause reduction of respiratory muscle strength through reduction of body weight.
Objectives. The purpose of the present study was to systematically evaluate the scientific evidence about the impact of pre-competition sexual activity on athletic performance. Methods. Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) statement, PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ProQuest, Physiotherapy Evidence Database(PEDro), and Google Scholar searches were performed with appropriate keywords without time and language restrictions for studies evaluating the impact of sexual activity on athletic performance. The titles and abstracts were reviewed by two independent reviewers. The methodological quality of the studies and the risk of bias were checked using the quality assessment tool of the Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP). Results. We found that most studies on this topic had low methodological quality. Out of the456 articles retrieved in the search, only seven met the inclusion criteria of the review. In four of these studies, sexual activity10-12 hours before competition did not alter short-term physiological testing results including maximum-effort grip strength test, hamstring flexibility, reaction time, aerobic power (stair-climbing exercise), VO 2max (treadmill and cycle ergometer test), sub-maximal graded-exercise test, muscular endurance, oxygen pulse, double product, testosterone, cortisol, blood glucose concentrations, and mental concentration. In one study, significantly higher differences were reported for post-maximal stress test heart rate at 5 and 10 minutes during two hours of recovery period after sexual intercourse, which disappeared when a maximal stress test was performed 10 hours after sexual activity. In another study immediately after sexual intercourse, 40% of long-distance athletes had difficulty during intensive loading, while in 90% of the addressed athletes, sexual activity 12 hours before the endurance test did not have an influence on performance. Conclusion. Based on mainly low-quality and heterogeneously designed studies, it can be concluded that having sex at least 10-12 hours before athletic events does not negatively influence physiological test results and possibly athletic performance. However, having sex immediately or a few hours before a competition has negative psychological or physiological effects on athletic performance.
Introduction:Arterial dissections are important causes of stroke in the young population. Dissection has been reported in association with some sports. It seems that this report is among the first ones of the cervical arterial dissection in a young swimmer.Case Presentation:A 30-year-old male professional swimmer with no history of any major disease suddenly complained of severe ataxia, moderate headache, neck pain, unilateral left facial weakness, and feelings of tingling and paresthesia on the left side of his body and face a few minutes following head and body stretching exercises in land. There was no history of major head or neck trauma, manipulation, and practicing diving skills in the past. Acute infarction of the left cerebellum was diagnosed after performing brain computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (with contrast) studies. Cervical magnetic resonance angiography confirmed left vertebral artery dissection as the cause of infarction.Conclusions:Important differential diagnoses of cervicocephalic arterial dissection include other vascular or neurological causes of head and neck pain and/or local neurological syndromes and other causes of brain ischemia such as cardiac emboli, atherosclerosis, and vasculopathy of brain vessels. It is important that sports medicine practitioners pay attention to this less-diagnosed cause of stroke in young athletes.
Sexual activity before competition has been considered as a possible cause for reduced performance since ancient Greece and Rome. Recently, the hypothesis that optimal sport performance could be influenced by a variety of factors including sexual activity before competition has been investigated. However, few scientific data are available, with the exception of anecdotal reports of individual experiences. The present systematic review focused on the current scientific evidence on the effects of sexual activity on sport performance regardless of sport type. Data were obtained following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, using PubMed/MEDLINE, ISI/Web of Science, the Cochrane Collaboration Database, Cochrane Library, Evidence Database (PEDro), Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) Search review, National Guidelines, ProQuest, and Scopus, all searched from inception Further, to broaden the search, no time filter nor language restriction have been applied. Also, the gray literature was mined using Google Scholar. Only relevant scientific articles reporting outcomes of athletic performance after sexual activity were considered. The impact of sexual activity before a sport competition is still unclear, but most studies generally seem to exclude a direct impact of sexual activity on athletic aerobic and strength performance. The most important aspect seems to be the interval from the time of the sports competition that affects negatively the performance if it is shorter than two hours. There are possible negative effects from some possible concurrent wrong behaviors such as smoking or alcohol abuse. There are no investigations about the effect of masturbation in this context. There is a need to clarify the effects of sexual activity on competition performance. The present evidence suggests that sexual activity the day before competition does not exert any negative impact on performance, even though high-quality, randomized controlled studies are urgently needed.
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