Stomach bugs

[the big ring]

I've had them. You've had them. They happen. I did a quick search of cyclingnews.com and the earliest mention I could find was 2000:

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/results/2000/dec00/dec5resultsAU.shtml (Hilton McCurdo - he won the criterium regardless)

When asked what energy-packed lunch he ate that day to aid his performance, Hilton said he'd eaten nothing as he's had a stomach bug.

The most recent one: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vuelta-lotto-belisol-reduced-by-stomach-bug

The Belgian Lotto Belisol team has lost three of its riders at the Vuelta a España over the weekend, due to what seemed to be a viral infection. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Jens Debusschere and Olivier Kaisen all abandoned the race on Saturday.

Forgive my cynicism, but "stomach bug" is almost up there with "infected tooth" and "incredible performance" for code words that get dropped on a regular basis.

Other than actual accidents involving dogs, melted roads or Euskatel Euskadi riders, there seems to be a very limited number of maladies present within the peloton - that get mentioned on a regular basis at any rate.

These alleged maladies inflict professional cyclists despite the fact teams have doctors on board, with experience in "hot weather" and "saddle sores". Doctors allegedly hired specifically for keeping their riders healthy and in good shape - because without riders a team is not a team, is not pulling in results and is not providing value for their sponsors.

So why is it, despite decades of stomach bugs and infected teeth, that the problems continue to manifest themselves. Just how good are these doctors?

What's the entry vector for this stomach bug?

Why aren't the mandatory quarterly medical checkups picking up dental issues? Why isn't a rider with a sore tooth spending some of his million euro contract to go see a dentist?

It's all just too suspect to me. Am I being overly cynical?

Seriously. Do a search on google (site:cyclingnews.com "stomach bug") - it seems almost ludicrous. Do other sports experience this malady as much?

 

[MarkvW]

I've had them. You've had them. They happen. I did a quick search of cyclingnews.com and the earliest mention I could find was 2000:

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/results/2000/dec00/dec5resultsAU.shtml (Hilton McCurdo - he won the criterium regardless)



The most recent one: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vuelta-lotto-belisol-reduced-by-stomach-bug


Forgive my cynicism, but "stomach bug" is almost up there with "infected tooth" and "incredible performance" for code words that get dropped on a regular basis.

Other than actual accidents involving dogs, melted roads or Euskatel Euskadi riders, there seems to be a very limited number of maladies present within the peloton - that get mentioned on a regular basis at any rate.

These alleged maladies inflict professional cyclists despite the fact teams have doctors on board, with experience in "hot weather" and "saddle sores". Doctors allegedly hired specifically for keeping their riders healthy and in good shape - because without riders a team is not a team, is not pulling in results and is not providing value for their sponsors.

So why is it, despite decades of stomach bugs and infected teeth, that the problems continue to manifest themselves. Just how good are these doctors?

What's the entry vector for this stomach bug?

Why aren't the mandatory quarterly medical checkups picking up dental issues? Why isn't a rider with a sore tooth spending some of his million euro contract to go see a dentist?

It's all just too suspect to me. Am I being overly cynical?

Seriously. Do a search on google (site:cyclingnews.com "stomach bug") - it seems almost ludicrous. Do other sports experience this malady as much?

And all the balding very young cyclists. . . . Maybe a little too much testosterone?

 

[the big ring]

And all the balding very young cyclists. . . . Maybe a little too much testosterone?

I'm going bald. Are you calling me a doper? Oh wait. Very young. Gotcha.

 

[Magnus]

Do you mean that because you have a doctor you shouldn't get sick?

Do you think that it's suspect that riders doing a GT is under a lot of physical pressure and hence gets infected easier than usual?

I am well aware of the stories about Wiel's Groene Leeuw and PDM. But when the stomach bug excuse is used it's probably because it is a quite common malady for riders in the first place.

 

[ElChingon]

Well you might of had something but if would of just asked the first 10 persons passing by you and asked when was the last time they had a stomach issue you'd see its very common. Then if you asked if it happened while on vacation, those numers would be pretty on par with riders.

Just ask yourself.

 

[twothirds]

So why is it, despite decades of stomach bugs and infected teeth, that the problems continue to manifest themselves. Just how good are these doctors?

Having a doctor doesn't make you invincible to sicknesses.

What's the entry vector for this stomach bug?

Food or droplets via the mouth or nasal passages.

Why aren't the mandatory quarterly medical checkups picking up dental issues? Why isn't a rider with a sore tooth spending some of his million euro contract to go see a dentist?

I'm pretty sure that when a rider is having tooth issues, the media reports it, and ends up being reported as treated sometime after the issue has come up.

It's all just too suspect to me. Am I being overly cynical?

yes

 

[Big Doopie]

stomach bug...

100% agree.

but you can go back to the pdm affair in 1991 where they all went down to a "stomach bug" wink wink say no more!

tom danielson used to have stomach bugs all the time riding with disco and usp, kept him out of some GTs i believe.

strange but no stomach bugs since coming over to garmin.

 

[the big ring]

I was under the impression teams had dedicated chefs for GTs.

I was also under the impression they all ate together.

Didn't half of Telekom go home with stomach bugs, leaving Evans and a few others to finish a GT a while back?


An earlier reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doping_at_the_Tour_de_France

The death of Tom Simpson

Tom Simpson was the leader of the British team in the 1967 Tour de France. At the start of stage 13 on Thursday 13 July, he was still suffering the effects of a stomach bug he had endured earlier in the race.

 

[QuickStepper]

A century ago, most people died from infectious diseases, not from heart attacks or cancer, which are now the leading causes of death.

Over the last 70 years or so, we've lived in extraordinary times, mostly due to the discovery of antibiotics. We've beaten back polio, diptheria, at one time almsot beat tuberculosis (not any longer). Doctors have over-prescribed drugs and antibiotics for decades now, and the big fear for the future are "superbugs" like MRSA, or the newer forms of C. deficile or the like that are rapidly becoming immune to drug treatment. And for most viruses, there are no cures at all. Medical science has never discovered any cure for even the common cold.

And you ask why, if cycling teams have doctors, the riders still get sick?
They get sick because riding 2,000+ miles in a GT that spans 30 days where most guys are riding on the edge of their max, is incredibly stressful and for most will lower their resistance and impair their immune systems.

I don't think guys who withdraw with viruses or stomach bugs are necessarily doping.

And likewise, it doesn't mean that they aren't doping either.

But I don't think anyone has ever done any studies to my knowledge which show any connection between the use of PED's and impairment of the immune system. And I've looked for such studies on PubMed and haven't found anything. There is some evidence that anabolic steroids can increase the incidence of liver cancer, but nothing else. EPO doesn't cause cancer itself; it's used as a treatment for cancer.

Sometimes guys just really do get sick. Just like "real" people. And sometimes there's not a thing a doctor can do about it.

 

[Kender]

a normal person consumes approximately 2000 calaries a day.

Thse guys are consuming 5-6000 calories a day (some days more) and alot of that is in the form of energy gels drinks and the like. Add to the fact they're tiring their bodies out with continuous strenuous physical activity every day. That has to take a toll on the stomach. wouldn't take much for it to get upset

 

[mewmewmew13]

Reading this thread is starting to make me feel ill.

 

[ScienceIsCool]

Here's a thought: a pro cyclist easily consumes three times the volume of food, and calories, of a typical person while racing. Imagine moving three times the volume through the digestive tract. During a Grand Tour, imagine four times the volume plus hydration issues.

It doesn't take much to have the entire system say "F*ck it, I'm done with this BS" and give you some serious "indigestion".

Now imagine unforeseen vectors of nasty bugs. Lots of guys race the Paris Roubaix, yes? Sometimes in rainy, mucky conditions too. A big portion of the day is spent racing past farm lands. So what exactly is washing off the farms and into the roads? Right again. Farm animal feces. These things do happen...

So you survived the day's race and make it back to the hotel in good shape. Your chef is preparing the well-washed organic foods he procured. Everything is perfect. Except for the unsterilized utensils... Ooops. The dishwasher dry cycle isn't quite hot or long enough to kill everything.

I could go on and on. Stomach issues are very common while racing and rightly so.

John Swanson

 

[131313]

Seriously. Do a search on google (site:cyclingnews.com "stomach bug") - it seems almost ludicrous. Do other sports experience this malady as much?

Do other sports spend as much time traveling and living out of crappy hotels, stressing the body to the point where your immune system is compromised almost all of the time? You are seriously being ridiculous. That part about the doctors is particularly funny. If there was a team doctor who could cure or prevent bacterial and viral infections, he wouldn't be a team doctor, he'd be standing in line for his Nobel Prize.

 

[D-Queued]

...
Forgive my cynicism, but "stomach bug" is almost up there with "infected tooth" and "incredible performance" for code words that get dropped on a regular basis.
...

...

I am well aware of the stories about Wiel's Groene Leeuw and PDM. But when the stomach bug excuse is used it's probably because it is a quite common malady for riders in the first place.

... pdm affair in 1991 where they all went down to a "stomach bug" wink wink say no more!
...

...Didn't half of Telekom go home with stomach bugs, leaving Evans and a few others to finish a GT a while back?

For another excellent reference, and some insight into the reasons why, pick up a copy of Willy Voet's 'Breaking the Chain'.

Read about 'Festina Flu'.

They had to isolate the team just before the Tour.

Nobody has mentioned Froome in this thread yet. But it does seem really odd that he came back from a life-threatening illness earlier this year and has been a factor in the ground tours like nobody since Merckx.

Dave.

 

[function]

.

Nobody has mentioned Froome in this thread yet. But it does seem really odd that he came back from a life-threatening illness earlier this year and has been a factor in the ground tours like nobody since Merckx.

Dave.

Schistosomiasis and stomach flu are not related, or are you trying to connect all ailments to having the same cause?

 

[function]

Regarding the prevalence of stomach flus, one factor is the buildup of cortisol in the body from fatigue (not only from racing but also training big hours and high intensity) resulting in a compromised immune system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol

 

[the big ring]

Regarding the prevalence of stomach flus, one factor is the buildup of cortisol in the body from fatigue (not only from racing but also training big hours and high intensity) resulting in a compromised immune system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol

Exogenous?

 

[function]

Exogenous?

No it's produced naturally by the endocrine system, endurance athletes have no shortage of it and ultimately want to keep levels low pre/post training/racing.

 

[the big ring]

No it's produced naturally by the endocrine system, endurance athletes have no shortage of it and ultimately want to keep levels low pre/post training/racing.

Yep. Read the web page. Understand its role and function.

Cortisol, also known more formally as hydrocortisone (INN, USAN, BAN), is a steroid hormone, more specifically a glucocorticoid,

Also know Lance got done in 1999 for glucocorticosteroids. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid. A steroid hormone.

If you're using it exogenously, it would seem to me that it could have the same devastating effect.

So it looks like you've actually just supported my conspiracy theory.

 

[function]

Yep. Read the web page. Understand its role and function.



Also know Lance got done in 1999 for glucocorticosteroids. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid. A steroid hormone.

If you're using it exogenously, it would seem to me that it could have the same devastating effect.

So it looks like you've actually just supported my conspiracy theory.

I dont think you're making the connection between natural cortisol from stress and suppressed immune systems it is considerably (from serious enthusiasts to professionals) more prevalent. If you think an athlete really wants elevated cortisol then it is indeed quite a conspiracy, but this is the clinic so make your case. I'm listening.

 

[the big ring]

I dont think you're making the connection between natural cortisol from stress and suppressed immune systems it is considerably (from serious enthusiasts to professionals) more prevalent. If you think an athlete really wants elevated cortisol then it is indeed quite a conspiracy, but this is the clinic so make your case. I'm listening.

I am still jet lagged, so if I miss something obvious, please bear with me.

If we start with the premise that LA was using glucocorticosteroids - why would he be using them? For some performance benefit, mid Tour in 1999. If it was useful then, it still is now.

Increased cortisol through training / racing stress leads to suppressed immune system.
The use of an exogenous corticosteroid leads to the same effect: suppressed immune system.

If my cortisol is already elevated, and I add exogenous corticosteroid to that - would the effect on my immune system be additive? ie suppressed even further?

Or does using exogenous push the body's production of natural cortisol back?

 

[twothirds]

I am still jet lagged, so if I miss something obvious, please bear with me.

If we start with the premise that LA was using glucocorticosteroids - why would he be using them? For some performance benefit, mid Tour in 1999. If it was useful then, it still is now.

Increased cortisol through training / racing stress leads to suppressed immune system.
The use of an exogenous corticosteroid leads to the same effect: suppressed immune system.

If my cortisol is already elevated, and I add exogenous corticosteroid to that - would the effect on my immune system be additive? ie suppressed even further?

Or does using exogenous push the body's production of natural cortisol back?

The human body's endocrine (hormonal) system work via sensory feedback mechanisms. This means that hormones are secreted in response to a certain stimulus. It is very sensitive to the amounts of hormones floating around in your blood and adjusts the level of each one according to what receptors are being latched onto and the info the brain is receiving via our sensory organs. If you used exogenous cortisone, then your body's cortisol response may be blunted because it has sensed cortisol on your system. The only problem is that as soon as you start to exercise again, the training stresses cause cortisol to be secreted again. You would now have a double whammy of cortisol floating through your system.

Corticosteroids signal the immune system to kick in and make repairs. You need cortisol to do this. What you are looking at doing with cortisol is secreting enough to signal immune responses, but to then quickly curtail it. Using it for localized Inflammatory responses is beneficial (saddle sores and joints). Trying to cause a systemic cortisol use is not beneficial at all.

 

[the big ring]

It's a shame not all stomach bugs are reported. Because so far it's Jurgen VandenBroek and a couple of his domestiques.

And now Bradley Wiggins.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-abandons-tour-of-britain

 

[hrotha]

To me "stomach bug" usually sounds like "I'd rather be somewhere else so I'll make something up". "Bad blood bag" is always a possibility in this sport of ours*. "Actual stomach bug" too.

*not likely in this particular case

 

[Big Doopie]

It's a shame not all stomach bugs are reported. Because so far it's Jurgen VandenBroek and a couple of his domestiques.

And now Bradley Wiggins.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-abandons-tour-of-britain

beat me to it.