Exercise training in polluted environment: A narrative review with focus on combat physical fitness

Document Type : Review Articles

Authors

1 Exercise Physiology Research Center, Life Style Institute, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

2 Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Air pollution is one of the most important problems of recent decades, which has serious toxic effects on human health and the environment. Sources of pollution vary from small units of cigarettes and natural sources such as volcanic activity to large volumes of emissions from car engines and industrial activities or even radioactive ones. Today, there are various pollutants around the world that negatively affect human health. Walking and being in a polluted environment can increase the penetration of pollutants such as lead in the body. Increasing physical activity such as long-term running, which is widely used in some jobs such as military jobs, can increase the activity of muscle tissue, and as a result, the cardiovascular system becomes more active and helps absorb more pollutants. Lead acetate is a possible carcinogen in humans, which is absorbed into the human body by pollutants. There is evidence that lead compounds can cause lung, brain, stomach, and kidney cancer in humans. However, pollution does not include air pollution only, and noise pollution can endanger human health as well. Since some occupations such as those of military experience various types of noise, as well as chemical and radioactive pollution and the point that having high physical fitness is essential for these people, this study examined the impact of various pollutants on the military personnel and also sought to see whether exercising and having high physical fitness of military personnel can reduce the stress caused by the pollution.

What is already known on this subject?

Air pollution is one of the most important problems of recent decades, which has serious toxic effects on human health and the environment.

 

What this study adds?

Adaptation to the environment is one of the factors of environmental readiness and it means that the military has the knowledge, skills and appropriate behavior to protect themselves against stressful environments.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Faa, A., Gerosa, C., Fanni, D., Floris, G., Eyken, P. V., Lachowicz, J. I., & Nurchi, V. M. (2018). Depleted uranium and human health. Current Medicinal Chemistry, 25(1), 49-64. doi: https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867324666170426102343
Hellon, R., Jones, R., Macpherson, R., & Weiner, J. (1956). Natural and artifical acclimatization to hot environments. The Journal of Physiology, 132(3), 559. doi: https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.1956.sp005549
Horowitz, M. (2007). Heat acclimation and cross-tolerance against novel stressors: genomic–physiological linkage. Progress in Brain Research, 162, 373-392. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0079-6123(06)62018-9
Jonas, W. B., O’Connor, F. G., Deuster, P., Peck, J., Shake, C., & Frost, S. S. (2010). Why total force fitness? Military Medicine, 175(suppl_8), 6-13. doi: https://doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-10-00280
Kelley, P. W. (2003). Military preventive medicine: Mobilization and deployment. Borden Institute, Walter Reed Army Medical Center. doi:
Lounsbury, D. E., Bellamy, R. F., & Zajtchuk, R. (2003). Textbook of Military Medicine. Washington, DC, Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army. doi:
Mullen, M. (2010). On total force fitness in war and peace. Military Medicine, 175(suppl_8), 1-2. doi: https://doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-10-00246
Murray, A. J. (2009). Metabolic adaptation of skeletal muscle to high altitude hypoxia: How new technologies could resolve the controversies. Genome Medicine, 1(12), 1-9. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/gm117
Nwaedozie, G., Mohammed, Y., Faruruwa, D. M., & Nwaedozie, J. M. (2013). Environmental impact of toxic metal load in some military training areas within the one division of Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Nigeria. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 3(3), 180.
Ritenour, A. E., Wickley, A., Ritenour, J. S., Kriete, B. R., Blackbourne, L. H., Holcomb, J. B., & Wade, C. E. (2008). Tympanic membrane perforation and hearing loss from blast overpressure in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom wounded. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 64(2), S174-S178. doi: https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0b013e318160773e
Shih, R. A., Meadows, S. O., Mendeloff, J., & Bowling, K. (2015a). Environmental fitness and resilience. URL: http://resp.llas.ac.cn/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/4105
Shih, R. A., Meadows, S. O., Mendeloff, J., & Bowling, K. (2015b). Environmental fitness and resilience: A review of relevant constructs, measures, and links to well-being. URL: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR100/RR101/RAND_RR101.pdf
Turner, M. C., Andersen, Z. J., Baccarelli, A., Diver, W. R., Gapstur, S. M., Pope III, C. A., . . . Cohen, A. (2020). Outdoor air pollution and cancer: An overview of the current evidence and public health recommendations. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 70(6), 460-479. doi: https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21632