| Tartalmi leírás: |
SUMMARY
In the following review article the authors illustrate the complexity of the hor mone cortisol, and discuss the relevance of the hormone in exercise physiology.
Several conditions may induce a cortisol release, the effect of this hormone is
diverse throughout the body. Researchers investigating the cortisol response to
different stressors, reach often contradictory conclusions. Exercise is a unique
and complex stress factor, which means physical and psychical challenge at the
same time. Anticipatory stress response is a well-known phenomenon in sport
psychology, which means increased serum cortisol level before exercise, even
without any physical strain. Therefore the correlation between exercise and cor tisol production remained to be unclear so far.
Some researchers have found cortisol relevant for measuring the workload,
while others have used the cortisol measurements for assessing the current
fitness level of the horse. There are also numerous studies that failed to prove
the usefulness of cortisol measurements in equine exercise physiology because
the production of the hormone is influenced by several confounding external
and internal factors. The exact trigger for the cortisol increase during exercise
is also questionable. Results of the comparison of cortisol responses between
different types of exercises suggested that the duration of the physical activity
is a more relevant trigger than the intensity of the exercise. Although opposite
opinion can also be found in scientific literature.
The aim of the authors is to overview the scientific evidence in this topic available
today. In the article the possible causes of the existing contradictions are high lighted, and a practical approach for the use of cortisol measurement is provided.
|
