Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Sport and the Immune System Response. A Review

Immunity is the consequence of a complex interaction between organs and the environment. It is mediated the interaction of several genes, receptors, molecules, hormones, cytokines, antibodies, antigens, and inflammatory mediators which in turn relate and influence the psychological health. The immune system response of heavily trained athletes resembles an even more complex conditions being theorized to follow a J or S shape dynamics at times. High training loads modify the immune response elevating the biological markers of immunity and the body susceptibility to infections. Heavy training and/or training in a cold environment increase the athletes’ risk to develop Upper Respiratory Tract Infections (URTIs). Therefore, athletes, who are considered healthier than the normal population, are in fact more prone to infections of the respiratory tract, due to lowering of the immune system in the time frames subsequent heavy training sessions. In this revision we will review the behavioral intervention, including nutritional approaches, useful to minimize the “open window” effect on infection and how to cope with stressors and boost the immune system in athletes.

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Recurrent Infections

Pediatrics in Review ◽

10.1542/pir.11.6.180 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 180-182

Author(s):

Richard Hong

Keyword(s):

Immune System ◽

Respiratory Tract ◽

Respiratory Tract Infections ◽

Respiratory Infections ◽

Upper Respiratory Tract Infections ◽

Upper Respiratory Tract ◽

Recurrent Infections ◽

Recurrent Respiratory Infections ◽

Upper Respiratory ◽

Tract Infections

Recurrent infections constitute a major challenge to primary care physicians. Primary immunodeficiency or other alterations of the host defense system are extremely rare. In the case of recurrent respiratory infections, particularly of the lungs, a diagnosis will result much more often from ordering a sweat chloride test than a serum immunoglobulin level. RECURRENT RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS The major reason for referral to our clinic for investigation of the immune system is a complaint of too many upper respiratory tract infections. Each respiratory infection in a young child means loss of sleep for child and parents, expenditure of time at the physician's office, and possible loss of income in addition to the expense of medication and office visits. The child is often irritable and his or her misery clouds the home atmosphere. With repeated episodes of this sort each year, it is small wonder that parents want relief. The average number of upper respiratory tract infections experienced by healthy children is approximately 9 to 10 per year. At least 100 viruses can cause the common cold. Accordingly, even when a child has a normal immune system establishing immunity to each virus or virus subtype, it can take many years for a broad enough immunity to develop to diminish the frequency of infection due to newly encountered respiratory viruses.

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Probiotics Effect on the Immune System

10.21203/rs.3.rs-37274/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jonathan Cho Kin Ng

Keyword(s):

Immune System ◽

Side Effects ◽

Respiratory Tract ◽

Respiratory Tract Infections ◽

Small Sample ◽

Upper Respiratory Tract Infections ◽

Controlled Trials ◽

Upper Respiratory Tract ◽

Upper Respiratory ◽

Tract Infections

Abstract Background: Probiotics can provide health benefits to an individual by regulation of the immune system. Many clinical trials have found that probiotics can prevent upper respiratory tracts infections.Aim: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of available trials to investigate the effectiveness of probiotics in the prevention of upper respiratory tract infections in individuals of all ages.Methods: A database search was carried out with databases ScienceDirect, Wiley, Springer, Medline and Pubmed. Completed randomised double blind, placebo-controlled trials were selected.Selection criteria: Randomised placebo-controlled trials, with the objective of investigating probiotic effectiveness in preventing URTIs.Results: Five randomised controlled trials were included, as the extracted data could be meta-analysed. This included a total of 785 participants of different age groups, children and adults. It was found that probiotics were better compared to placebo in reducing the number of participants who experienced acute upper respiratory tract infections. Probiotics were found to reduce the mean duration of acute URTI episodes, antibiotic use compared to placebo and URTI or cold related absence. Side effects and adverse effects were found to be minor and not statistically significant.Conclusions: Probiotics were found to be better in reducing the number of participants who experienced acute URTI, the average duration per episode of acute URTI, use of antibiotics in URTI related cases and absence due to URTI. Side effects were found to be minor, making probiotics a good candidate for clinical use. This shows that probiotics are effective in preventing acute URTIs. However, due to limited studies and small sample size, the results are subjected to bias and should be interpreted with care.

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