Salivary hormones and anxiety in winners and losers of an international judo competition

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Sports Sciences on 19th November 2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02640414.2015.1111521.The purpose of this study was to investigate the responses of salivary hormones and salivary secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) and anxiety in winners and losers during an international judo competition. Twenty-three trained, male, national-level judo athletes provided three saliva samples during a competition day: morning, in anticipation of competition after an overnight fast, mid-competition, and post-competition within 15 min post-fight for determination of salivary cortisol, salivary testosterone, salivary testosterone/cortisol ratio, SIgA absolute concentrations, SIgA secretion rate and saliva flow rate. The competitive state anxiety inventory questionnaire was completed by the athletes (n = 12) after the first saliva collection for determination of somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety and self-confidence. Winners were considered 1-3 ranking place (n = 12) and losers (n = 11) below third place in each weight category. Winners presented higher anticipatory salivary cortisol concentrations (p = 0.03) and a lower mid-competition salivary testosterone/cortisol ratio (p = 0.003) compared with losers with no differences for salivary testosterone. Winners tended to have higher SIgA secretion rates (p = 0.07) and higher saliva flow rates (p = 0.009) at mid-competition. Higher levels of cognitive anxiety (p = 0.02) were observed in the winners, without differences according to the outcome in somatic anxiety and self-confidence. The results suggest that winners experienced higher levels of physiological arousal and better psychological preparedness in the morning, and as the competition progressed, the winners were able to control their stress response better

Cortisol in hair measured in young adults - a biomarker of major life stressors?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Stress as a cause of illness has been firmly established. In public health and stress research a retrospective biomarker of extended stress would be an indispensible aid. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate whether concentrations of cortisol in hair correlate with perceived stress, experiences of serious life events, and perceived health in young adults.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Hair samples were cut from the posterior vertex area of (n = 99) university students who also answered a questionnaire covering experiences of serious life events, perceived Stress Scale and perceived health during the last three months. Cortisol was measured using a competitive radioimmunoassay in methanol extracts of hair samples frozen in liquid nitrogen and mechanically pulverised.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean cortisol levels were significantly related to serious life events (p = 0.045), weakly negatively correlated to perceived stress (p = 0.025, r = -0.061) but nor affected by sex, coloured/permed hair, intake of pharmaceuticals or self-reported health. In a multiple regression model, only the indicator of serious life events had an independent (p = 0.041) explanation of increased levels of cortisol in hair. Out of four outliers with extremely high cortisol levels two could be contacted, both reported serious psychological problems.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings suggest that measurement of cortisol in hair could serve as a retrospective biomarker of increased cortisol production reflecting exposure to major life stressors and possibly extended psychological illness with important implications for research, clinical practice and public health. Experience of serious life events seems to be more important in raising cortisol levels in hair than perceived stress.</p

Protein and Overtraining: Potential Applications for Free-Living Athletes

Despite a more than adequate protein intake in the general population, athletes have special needs and situations that bring it to the forefront. Overtraining is one example. Hard-training athletes are different from sedentary persons from the sub-cellular to whole-organism level. Moreover, competitive, "free-living" (less-monitored) athletes often encounter negative energy balance, sub-optimal dietary variety, injuries, endocrine exacerbations and immune depression. These factors, coupled with "two-a-day" practices and in-season demands require that protein not be dismissed as automatically adequate or worse, deleterious to health. When applying research to practice settings, one should consider methodological aspects such as population specificity and control variables such as energy balance. This review will address data pertinent to the topic of athletic protein needs, particularly from a standpoint of overtraining and soft tissue recovery. Research-driven strategies for adjusting nutrition and exercise assessments will be offered for consideration. Potentially helpful nutrition interventions for preventing and treating training complications will also be presented