HOW DOES EXERCISE MODIFY NORMAL PHYSIOLOGY - Essay Example

The situation, which will be described in this work, is the following: the experienced athlete is going to run a 20km marathon today. The aim is to describe his physiological changes during all aspects of this event. First of all, it is necessary to note, that marathons are not related to the sub maximal loadings; they are related to the dynamic kinds of sports with rather steady and obviously smoother changes in various physiological indices of the sportsman under research. Thus, let us look at the changes, which are caused by the nervous system when the race has just begun.

According to Sutoo & Akiyama (2003), exercise modifies the function of brain, as well as the nervous system functioning. However, the mechanism of these changes is still unknown for the scientists. According to the experiments, the influence of the physical exercises has been displayed through the increase of the level in serum calcium, transported to the brain, to stimulate the synthesis of dopamine. In its turn, the higher level of DA synthesis becomes the main reason of the physiological changes during physical exercises.

Thus, the main effect caused by the nervous system changes during the dynamic exercises is the increase in blood pressure, the rationale for which lies in the calcium-exchange changes; but it is important to know, that profound understanding of the process of calcium production as a result of long stable exercises becomes the reason for general decrease in blood pressure, and this contradiction may be explained as follows. Calcium is known to reduce blood pressure through the calcium/CaM-dependent DA-synthesizing system, simultaneously increasing it through intracellular calcium-dependent mechanism.

These facts explain why the first several minutes of race are the most difficult even for the experienced racers. The calcium infusion, caused by exercises, becomes the reason of hypercalcemia during the first kilometers of race, and causes higher blood pressure,