Adriano Di Paco

Outdoor second-hand cigarette smoke significantly affects air quality

Second-hand smoke (SHS) may be significantly elevated outdoors and when adjacent to smoking areas [1, 2]. This is of concern as SHS exposure is linked to adverse health outcomes, including respiratory disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and lung cancer [3–5]. Exposure to cancer-causing chemicals in outdoor areas is likely to occur in the presence of cigarette smoke [6], and worryingly, short periods of exposure to SHS are related to detectable levels of carcinogenic tobacco-specific nitrosamines in nonsmoking subjects [7]. Air quality is worse in a pedestrian area frequented by smokers compared with a high-traffic zone http://ow.ly/DMW83007Xmo

Cambios en la respuesta ventilatoria al esfuerzo en deportistas entrenados: efectos beneficiosos sobre la fisiología respiratoria más allá del rendimiento cardiovascular

INTRODUCTION The beneficial impact of an 8-month competitive season on the ventilatory profile response to exercise in soccer players has never been evaluated. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ventilatory profile (evaluated by determining individual tidal volume [VT] relative to minute ventilation [VE] inflection points during exercise) and metabolic responses to incremental exercise were evaluated in 2 professional soccer teams before and after an 8-month competitive season. RESULTS No differences between teams in anthropometric characteristics or in resting cardiopulmonary variables, included oxygen uptake (VO2) and heart rate (HR), before and during the competitive season were found. At iso-speed, there were overall improvements in carbon dioxide output (VCO2), VE/VO2, VE/VCO2, VE and respiratory frequency (fR) during the season. The VT/VE inflection points 1 and 2 occurred with greater exercise time, HR, VO2, VCO2, VE and VT during the competitive season. CONCLUSIONS Despite very high baseline performance and a negligible improvement in VO2, an 8-month competitive season improved ventilatory profile response to exercise in elite athletes.