ABSTRACT
The effect of 30 min cycle ergometry at approximately 100 W (mean 98.8 W; range 34-151 W) in 11 male patients who had no hip involvement were studied. In most patients, exercise produced immediate increases in spinal flexibility and bilateral cervical tilt, and a reduction in pain. However, these improvements steadily waned and all had disappeared by 3-5 h. Exercise induced marked changes in the numbers of circulating leucocytes and platelets, and in the distribution of lymphocytes subsets, similar to those previously reported to occur in individuals without the disease. In a majority of patients there were positive associations (Kendall's tau test) between Schober's index and the platelet count, and negative associations between Schober's index and the percentage of CD4-positive cells over a 5 h period on the exercise day, whereas there were negative associations between the pain score and the leucocyte and neutrophil counts over a comparable period on a control day without exercise. We conclude that exercising those regions of the body unaffected by disease can elicit short-term beneficial effects by a systemically mediated mechanism(s).
Subject(s)
Exercise/physiology , Spondylitis, Ankylosing/physiopathology , Adult , Exercise Test , Humans , Incidence , Joints/pathology , Leukocyte Count , Lymphocyte Subsets/immunology , Male , Pain/epidemiology , Pain/physiopathology , Platelet Count , Spondylitis, Ankylosing/blood , Time FactorsABSTRACT
One of the accepted benefits of regular exercise is the development of increased bone mineral density (BMD) and hence a skeleton more capable of withstanding the rigours of physical activity throughout life. However an apparent paradox is seen in the observed decrease in lumbar BMD in female athletes who experience menstrual disturbance and athletic amenorrhoea (AA). Despite high levels of activity these athletes suffer the consequences of hormonal deficiency and are at risk of not achieving peak BMD and experiencing further bone loss. It is increasingly evident however that exercise itself continues to exert a protective effect of maintaining BMD at skeletal sites under physical stress. The observed increase then of stress fractures at these sites in amenorrhoeic athletes remains unexplained.
