Is going to the gym bad for your health?

By PETA BEE, Daily Mail
Last updated at 08:21 04 July 2006

Gyms are a Mecca for the fit and healthy - so they are the last place you would expect to encounter a serious threat to your well-being. Yet research shows that they can be a breeding ground for illnesses ranging from colds and viruses to deadly superbug infections.
Microbiologists have discovered that dangerous bacteria lurk not only in the unpleasant sweaty residue left on gym equipment, but in hot-tubs, changing rooms and even sports drinks bottles.
Some of the bugs can thrive for days in the humid gym environment, and are killed only when the area is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.
In a recent survey for Men's Fitness magazine, Dr Derren Ready, a clinical scientist in microbiology at University College Hospital in London, admits he was shocked when swabs taken from one unnamed London gym revealed dangerously high levels of bacteria. One site harboured 132 million bugs in an area the size of a 2p coin, while the average count was 16 million, he says.
Compare those levels with the 500 bacteria you could expect to find in a similar sample taken from a loo seat, and you can see why experts are increasingly concerned. This could be just the excuse you need for not going to the gym.
Here are some of the bacterial 'hotspots':
GYM EQUIPMENT
In the Men's Fitness survey, germs were found in every nook and cranny of the gym. On the bench-press headrest and dumbells, for instance, almost 8 million traces of staphylococcus epidermis, a type of bacteria which causes skin infections, were found.
Boxercise gloves, used for gym boxing classes, contained another species of bacteria linked to similar infections. Sweaty residue on gym equipment - particularly the machines often used by several people in quick succession, such as weights and exercise bikes - can also harbour streptococcal infections and even candida, a germ linked to problems in the intestines and bowel.
Catching the Herpes virus is also a risk if the sweat of an infected person gets on to gym mats or other surfaces. 'The actual sweat is really not a problem,' says Herbert DuPont, professor of medical sciences at the University of Texas, who has studied gym hygiene. 'It is primarily the moisture from sweat that causes problems by helping germs to grow.'
CHANGING ROOMS AND SHOWERS
Earlier this year it was reported by the Health Protection Agency that about 100 men and woman had contracted a strain of the MRSA superbug at their gym or sports centre.
Community-acquired MRSA (known as CA-MRSA) can trigger pneumonia and lead to skin infections which cause boils and abscesses.
Dirty towels
Dirty towels handed out to members are also a breeding ground for CA-MRSA, experts warn. Gyms and health clubs are not governed by the same standards as hospitals, which set regulations for the temperature at which towels must be cleaned.
This is a very dangerous organism, said Dr Ron Cutler, an MRSA expert at the University of London.
'I would strongly advise people to take their own towel to the gym. In hospitals, you know that bedding and towels are cleaned to a certain level, but in a gym you have no idea.'
Less harmful are other common diseases lurking on the floor of these areas such as tinea pedis (athlete's foot), a fungal infection which causes cracked, blistered skin and itching, usually between the toes, and onychomycosis, another infectious fungal disease with symptoms including yellow, brittle toe-and fingernails.
Both of these can be treated with over-the-counter medications, but for persistent infections you may need to consult your GP.
CLOTHING AND ACCESSORIES
The average pair of running shoes has 76 times more fungi than a toilet bowl, according to a survey commissioned by medical company Daktarin.
Even a few days after running, 40 per cent of training shoes had a higher number of fungi than work shoes which had just been taken off, proving that the warm, moist environment acts as a breeding ground for spores.
That apparently healthy water bottle you carry can also harbour nasty bugs. A study at the University of Calgary in Canada reported high levels of bacteria in water drunk from plastic bottles which were refilled without proper cleaning.
Some of the water samples had significant levels of fecal bacteria, probably due to improper handwashing by the bottle owners. Heterotropic bacteria, which feed on other microbes, were also present in more than half the samples.
The solution? If you re-use a bottle, sterilise it regularly with boiling water or put it through a full cycle in the dishwasher.
HOT-TUB
Poorly-maintained hot-tubs can be a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria, according to research by a team from Texas A&M University earlier this year.
They tested 43 water samples from private and public whirlpool baths, only to find all had some kind of microbial growth.
Whereas a teaspoon of tap water contains about 138 bacteria, a teaspoon of whirlpool tub water had an average of 2.17million bugs. Bacteria derived from faeces were present in 95 per cent of samples, while 34 per cent contained potentially deadly staphylococcus bacteria.
And the warm temperature makes matters worse: the chlorine in the tubs loses much of its disinfecting power, while the bugs thrive.
According to the Health Protection Agency, spas were the cause of 27 cases of legionnaires' disease and three deaths in 2003.
Last year, 72-year-old Jean Winfrey, from Peterborough, who had a hot-tub in her home and used it several times a week, became the first person in the UK to be diagnosed with 'hot-tub lung'. Doctors found abnormalities in Mrs Winfrey's lungs, possibly as a result of an inflammation caused sarcoidosis, thought to be an allergic response to an infection caught from the hot-tub.
The US Centre for Disease Control, which has investigated the effects of whirlpools, says the term 'hot-tub lung' covers several conditions, including pneumonia and a hypersensitivity or allergic reaction to the chemicals in the water.
The most common culprits are mycobacteria, which live in the slime that forms on the inside of wet hot-tub pipes. When the water jets are switched on, they are propelled into the bubbles.
'The best way to prevent such bacteria from forming is to clean out the pipes,' says Dr Rita Moyes, who led the Texas study.
'The pipes in a whirlpool hot-tub need to be scraped and cleaned just like you need to brush your teeth with toothpaste.'
SWIMMING POOL
Outbreaks of a nasty gut bug, cryptosporidium, are sometimes linked to swimming pools. Infection is caused by swallowing contaminated water.
Ironically, health problems can also be caused by the chemicals, such as chlorine, which are added to pools to kill potentially harmful bacteria.
Some researchers have linked the presence of pool chemicals to the rising incidence of asthma. It is thought that chlorine reacts with sweat or urine to create dangerous fumes which can harm the lungs.
One study at the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels measured proteins known to damage lung cells and found regular swimmers had the same levels as smokers.
SAUNA AND STEAM ROOM
In the survey conducted by Men's Fitness, the sauna was found to contain high levels of citrobacter freundii bacteria, an agent of infections including pneumonia, and blood and urinary tract infections.
'The bacteria usually lives in the gut and its presence indicates faecal contamination,' says Dr Ready.
He suspects the high count could stem from the wooden benches in saunas and steam rooms which have lots of crevices, providing ideal gaps for bacteria to colonise.
Citrobacter is often found with other intestine-dwelling bacteria, such as E. coli.
HOW TO STAY SAFE
One: Wash your hands thoroughly before and after exercise.
Two: Wipe down the machines, preferably with disinfectant wipes, before and after use. Gyms should disinfect them on a regular basis - but it is good gym etiquette to make sure you don't leave a pool of sweat behind you.
Three: Avoid touching your mouth, eyes or face, because this is how most viruses are transmitted.
Four: Use your own clean sweat towel to wipe your sweat, rather than your hands.
Five: Wear flip-flops when walking in the shower or sauna, to avoid catching athlete's foot.
Six: Sit on a towel or wear shorts in the sauna to avoid direct contact with the seating, which may contain fungi.
Seven: Give the gym a miss if you think you have early cold or flu symptoms.


Reference: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-393921/Is-going-gym-bad-health.html