Exercise And Inflammation

Published by drlundell on June 21st, 2009

Dear Dr. Lundell:

I’m a believer! At 61, I have been eating salmon and taking supplements for about 20 yrs. Like you, I exercise quite strenuously, often raising my hear rate above 160. My max is 170+. Could this be bad? Could I develop aortic stenosis from too much exercise? Can long, hard exercise be pro-inflammatory?
Thanks for listening,

Charles Mitchell
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Dear Mr. Mitchell:

Great to hear from you, great to hear someone at your age enjoying the benefits of vigorous exercise. I do not think that you are doing any harm by exercising at your heart rate of 160.

Aortic stenosis is usually caused by a congenital abnormality of the valve, or interestingly enough low-grade chronic inflammation which causes the deposition of calcium and scar tissue in the valve producing stenosis. Your last question is very interesting, since I also exercise and have done an ironman triathlon.

Vigorous exercise does indeed cause some oxidative stress and does cause some pro inflammatory markers to be elevated in the blood. This is somewhat counteracted by the anti inflammatory compounds produced by contracting skeletal muscles.

Active people will certainly have considerably less inflammation than sedentary people. I always try to get some protein and antioxidant vitamins after exercise to combat any oxidative stress and to facilitate muscle restoration.

Keep training,

Dwight Lundell M.D.