Effects of Ibuprofen Use on Lymphocyte Count and Oxidative Stress in Elite Paralympic Powerlifting

PainSci » bibliography » Aidar et al 2021
updated Mar 21, 2022

Tags: medications, strength, counter-intuitive, self-treatment, treatment, exercise

Two articles on PainSci cite Aidar 2021: 1. A Deep Dive into Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness 2. The Science of Pain-Killers

PainSci commentary on Aidar 2021: ?This page is one of thousands in the PainScience.com bibliography. It is not a general article: it is focused on a single scientific paper, and it may provide only just enough context for the summary to make sense. Links to other papers and more general information are provided wherever possible.

Ten national-level paralympic powerlifting athletes were assessed for post-training fatigue and oxidative stress with ibuprofen versus a placebo. (“Oxidative stress” is a general biological signature of a body under strain, measurable after bouts of intense exercise.) There were no differences in oxidative stress… but, surprisingly, the athletes with ibuprofen in their veins were stronger and had less fatigue.

~ Paul Ingraham

original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.

BACKGROUND: Paralympic Powerlifting (PP) training tends to promote fatigue and oxidative stress.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effects of ibuprofen use on performance and oxidative stress in post-training PP athletes. METHODOLOGY: Ten national level PP athletes (age: 27.13 ± 5.57) were analyzed for oxidative stress in post-training. The study was carried out in three weeks, (1) familiarization and (2 and 3) evaluated the recovery with the use of a placebo (PLA) and ibuprofen (IBU), 800 mg. The Peak Torque (PT), Torque Development Rate (TDR), Fatigue Index (FI), reactive substances to thiobarbituric acid (TBARS) and sulfhydryl groups (SH) were evaluated. The training consisted of five sets of five repetitions (80-90%) 1-Repetition Maximum (1-RM) in the bench press.

RESULTS: The IBU showed a higher PT (24 and 48 h, p = 0.04, ɳ2 p = 0.39), a lower FI (24 h, p = 0.01, ɳ2p = 0.74) and an increased lymphocyte count (p < 0.001; ɳ2p = 4.36). There was no change in oxidative stress.

CONCLUSIONS: The use of IBU provided improvements in strength and did not protect against oxidative stress.

This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:

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Is Neck Posture Subgroup in Late Adolescence a Risk Factor for Persistent Neck Pain in Young Adults? A Prospective Study. Richards 2021 Phys Ther.