Exercise addiction is common in anorectics and bulimics, since they think that excessive exercise can help them get thin. Bulimics will often use compulsive exercise as a method of purging.
Compulsive exercise can cause many painful injuries, such as stress fractures, damaged bones and joints, and torn muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
The injuries may become more serious as many compulsive exercises will continue their routines despite their injuries.
Sporting injuries
Types of injuries
Soft tissue injuries
Sprain
A sprain is a stretch and/or tears to a ligament and it is often caused by trauma that knocks a joint out of its position and then over stretches the supporting ligaments. They often affect him ankles, knees or the wrists. The three different degrees of a sprain are:
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First degree – these show the following symptoms – some stretching or tearing of the ligament, mild pain, little or no joint instability, little swellings, some joint stiffness.
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Second degree – These show the following symptoms- some tearing of the ligament fibres, moderate inability of joint, moderate to severe pain, swelling and stiffness.
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Third degree – These show the following symptoms – Total rupture of ligaments, gross inability of joint, sever pain initially followed by no pain, severe swelling.
Strain
A strain is a twist, pull and/or tear to a muscle or a tendon and is often caused by overuse, force and over stretching. Surgical repair may be necessary upon tears to a muscle. These can also be put into three categories.
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First degree – few muscle fibres are torn, mild pain, little swelling, some muscle stiffness.
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Second degree – minimal to moderate tearing of muscle fibres, moderate to severe pain, swelling and stiffness.
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Third degree – total rupture of ligament, severe pain, severe swelling
Haematomas
This is bleeding in or around a muscle. If it is bleeding in the muscle then it’s called an intramuscular haematoma. This type can lead up to a pressure build up within the muscle tissue as the blood is trapped within the muscle. This will result in a decrease of strength in the injured muscle. Bleeding around the muscle is called an intermuscular haematoma. This type of haematoma is much less severe because blood can escape from the damaged muscle into the surrounding tissues so three less pressure in the area in the injury recovers quicker.
Oedema
This is when the tissue swells due to a trauma. The swelling may be a combination of tissue fluids and blood. The blood comes from local damage to the capillaries from the injured site.
Bursitis
This is an inflammation or an irritation of a bursa, which are small sacs of fluid located beneath a bone and other moving structures such as muscles or skin or tendons. The bursa allows a smooth gliding movement between these structures. If the bursa becomes inflated it will be painful and will restrict movement in that area. Bursitis is usually caused from overuse.
Tendonitis
Tendonitis is an inflammation or an irritation to a tendon. It causes pain and stiffness occurs around the inflamed part of the tendon. This is made worse by movement. Tendonitis can affect almost any tendon although tendons located near joint tend to be more affected. It is usually caused from over usage.
Contusion
This can also be known as a bruise. A blunt force like a kick, fall or blow often causes them. They result in pain and swellings and discolouration.
Abrasions
This is when the surface of the skin is grazed so that the top layer is removed leaving a tender area. This can often occur after a fall.
Hard tissue injuries
Dislocations
This is when the joint becomes displaced from its natural location. It occurs when the joint has become overstressed. The bone that and the joint which it meets disconnect
Depression
Everyone experiences variation in mood -- temporary blues, disappointment, and the normal grief that accompanies the loss of someone. But a severe or long-lasting depression that interferes with the ability to function, feel pleasure, or maintain interest is not a simple case of the blues. It is an illness. Research has demonstrated that it results from biochemical imbalances in the brain.
In terms of human suffering, the cost of untreated depression is often huge. They include loss of self-esteem, "self-medication" with alcohol and drugs, family and career disruption, chronic disability and, in many cases, death.
Eating Disorder
There are different types of eating disorders and while they are all different, in many ways they also have a lot in common. An eating disorder may develop out of a simple diet. Some people, to relieve tension or depression will go on a binge. A binge is eating a lot of food in a very short time until uncomfortably full. Although the binges relieve some tension, they also cause disgust, guilt, and concern about weight gain which will lead a person to purge after their binges. A purge is a way to compensate for all the extra calories by vomiting, excessive exercise, fasting, or using laxatives. It causes rapid gain and loss of weight, feelings of inadequacy, and an obsession with food. Binge Eating Disorder, Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa are the most common forms of eating disorders. Binge-Eating Disorder and Bulimia Nervosa are considered mental disorders because people with these disorders do not feel like they are in control of their eating behaviour. If a person binges more than twice a week, it is considered Binge-Eating Disorder. The combination of bingeing and purging is called Bulimia Nervosa. ".
Anorexia, although still considered a mental disorder is more controlled, with the person either taking very small amounts of food or starving themselves to remain thin.
It is estimated that 0.5 to 1% of women in late adolescence develop anorexia. It is most common between the ages of 10 and 30 and 90% of the cases are women. However, cases are increasing for men, minorities, older women and pre-teens. There are children as young as 8 showing concerns and behaviours around food, and up to 50% of these youngsters are boys
Anorexia is associated with feelings and behaviours related to the fear of "fatness". These feelings include poor body image, a phobia about food and its ability to create fatness, and an intense fear of being a normal body weight. People with anorexia have not lost their appetite. They are very hungry indeed. They think about food all the time, want to be close to it - give it to others. What they don't do is allow themselves to succumb to their desire for food. Like all compulsive disorders, the roots of anorexia lie in deep anxiety, the sense that not only is life out of control, running away too fast, but that their ability to cope with life and all its demands is poor. Given these fears, it is all too easy for an individual to turn to the control of food and weight to gain some kind of control over their existence.
Typically anorexia starts when a young person feels overweight. This may be because they have gained a little more weight than average at puberty, or have slim friends with whom they compare themselves. A decision to go on a diet may be triggered by a specific event such as a comment or remark from a peer. The diet is most usually the first ever tried and it is initially quite successful, giving the young person a real sense of achievement at an otherwise insecure time of life. There may initially be approval from friends or members of the family which is a positive form of attention. The anorexic never starts off intending to starve themself into emaciation. They just feels that life will be better if they lost a few pounds - which it is for a while. At some point in the diet there is a subtle psychological change - which is not experienced by normal dieters - and dieting actually becomes more intense as the diet progresses and the target weight is near.
The dieting behaviour goes underground so that it can become a private secret rather than a public activity and strategies are developed to convince "others" that eating is taking place when in fact it is not. This requires a great deal of craftiness such as throwing food away, finding ways to get rid of it off a plate at mealtimes, or pretending to already have eaten. Hence by the time that weight loss is noticeable to the family, the anorexia is already well under way.
In their own private eating world, the person developing anorexia will become very "ritualised" around food. This may take the form of eating fractions of portions of food at specific times of the day, - like one third of an apple - or eating the crusts around a sandwich but not the middle. They will toy with their food, cut it up into tiny pieces and eat them very slowly. Even non-fattening foods will be feared. Many anorexics weigh themselves several times each day. An anorexic can panic if they show a small change in weight after eating one lettuce. The physical effects of anorexia are mostly connected with the effects of starvation on the body:
· menstruation stops(in women)
· breathing, pulse and blood pressure rates plummet This coursework from
· mild anaemia occurs
· osteoporosis
· impaired kidney function
· infertility
· immune system fails to fight infection
· physical weakness
· sensitivity to heat and cold.
· erosion of the teeth from acid in the stomach due to vomiting
· as body weight falls to low levels the anorexic may be covered with a fine downy hair
· ulcers and rough skin on legs and feet due to poor circulation
· digestive problems as a result of starvation
· constipation
· Bone loss as a result of under nourishment
· Shrinkage of the reproductive organs in both men and women
· Destruction of areas of the brain which are responsible for endocrine production.
The most significant feature of anorexia is denial of the disease and anorexics are typically very intelligent people with a great deal of academic ability.
Ergogenic aids
Athletes competing today will go to many lengths in order to improve their performance, continually pushing back the boundaries of human performance. They are continually looking for new ways of enhancing their performance. Advancements in science and training techniques in recent years have allowed athletes to have a huge gain in their pursuit of exellence, any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance is known as an ergogenic aid. Ergogenic aids vary from legal (such as creatine monohydrate) to illegal (like steroids).
Erythropoietin is a hormone produced by the kidneys that stimulates the production of erythrocytes (red blood cells). EPO (as it is otherwise know) can now be manufactured artificially due to the advancements of science, this form is known as recombinant erythropoietin or ReEPO. This was originally given to patients with renal failure. When athletes train at altitude then EPO is produced in order for more RBC’s to be produced to compensate in the lower partial pressure of oxygen. The use of ReEPO produces similar, but more dramatic affects and so efficiency in blood getting to the working muscles is greatly increased due to the higher haemoglobin levels. Because of the unfair advantage that ReEPO gives to athletes, it is illegal and the IOC classified it as a doping substance in 1990.
Altitude training has a very similar affect to ReEPO as discussed earlier. It is totally legal, but not all athletes do it, this is due to a number of reasons. Not all athletes can afford to train at high altitudes, some suffer from altitude sickness, and it is also difficult to train at the same intensity as sea level resulting in detraining. Some athletes however train in specially constructed altitude houses. These allow the environment in which the performer is in to be altered. The partial pressure of both O2 and CO2 can be altered along with the humidity levels and temperature. from coursewrok work info
Blood doping has the same effect as taking EPO. The procedure involves an amount of blood being taken from the athlete and frozen, the body then produces more blood to replace that which is lost, 5-6 weeks later the frozen blood is reintroduced to the athletes circulatory system. This process results in a higher amount of RBC’s in the body, which means an increase in the oxygen carrying capacity. Blood doping is illegal but is very hard to detect. It only really benefits endurance athletes.
Creatine monohydrate is a naturally occurring substance found in the body. It can be bought over the counter and is totally legal. However if the athlete exceeds the recommended dose of 20-30g a day then it becomes illegal. The supplement increases the amount of phosphocreatine stored in the muscles and will therefore increase the threshold of the alatic system. More creatine stores will mean that the athlete will be able to undertake high intensity, anaerobic exercise to a higher level and recovery times will also be improved. There are no known side affects of creatine monohydrate although initial weight gain has been experienced due to water retention.
A nasal strip is a small adhesive plastic strip that is worn across the bridge of the nose to hold the nostrils open. They were originally an anti-snoring device, which came out in the 1990’s. Professional footballers and long distance runners mainly use them today. The marketing suggests that they allow an increased amount of air to enter the lungs and therefore increase the amount of O2 the athlete can take in. unfortunately due to scientific research the only known positive affect of the strips are that in very hot environments they prevent the brain from overheating.
Athletes wanting to further the boundaries of performance will always be the case in all sports with all performers wanting to better others and themselves. It is a question of how these athletes choose to push these boundaries, by means of artificial aids, natural methods or just strong positive attitude, that is the thing that is left to be decided.
As todays athletes are seen as role models they set an example for todays younger society. Athletes who are idolised and then seen taking drugs are unaware that this passes directly onto those who look up to them as role models. People will want to emulate their heroes at all costs and if this means taking supplements or drugs then so be it. Athletes may also believe that near enough everybody is taking drugs within sport so why should they be so different if they want to compete on an even playing field . people may even drop out of their sport if they feel that there is no point if everyone is on drugs especially in sports where split second differences are the key for winning. The bans which are imposed are also not very daunting so this doesn’t exactly put people off for example when Rio Ferdinand got banned he was still getting paid ridiculous amounts of money for doing nothing.
