{"82371":{"#nid":"82371","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Research Locates Source of  Runner\u0027s High Experienced by Athletes","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study conducted at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of California, Irvine suggests that a class of chemicals known as cannabinoids may be the missing piece of the \u0022runner\u0027s high\u0022 puzzle long sought by scientists.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Exercise is good for the mind. For the millions of people who exercise, this is not a secret,\u0022 said Arne Dietrich, the study\u0027s principal investigator and a former visiting professor at Georgia Tech. \u0022It helps reduce stress, lowers anxiety, suppresses pain, produces a feeling of well-being and can even lead to a euphoric state. To scientists, however, the process that leads to this last phenomenon -- popularly known as the \u0027runner\u0027s high\u0027 -- remains an elusive mystery.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA critical clue in the mystery may have been found, however. As published recently in the journal Neuroreport, Dietrich\u0027s research team has found very high levels of a naturally occurring cannabinoid called anandamide in runners and cyclists who exercised at moderate intensity for an extended period.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAnandamide produces effects similar to those of THC, the psychoactive constituent of marijuana, leading researchers to speculate that \u0022runner\u0027s high\u0022 may not be caused by endorphins released by the human body - as previously thought -- but by a naturally occurring cannabinoid high.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I was aware of the limitations of the endorphin theory for explaining the runner\u0027s high, and I thought that Dr. Dietrich\u0027s novel hypothesis fit well within recent endocannabinoid discoveries,\u0022 said Professor Phil Sparling, co-director of the Exercise Physiology Lab and Dietrich\u0027s host at Tech..\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The body\u0027s ability to produce cannabinoids is currently an intense area of research\u0022, said Dietrich, who studied them as a visiting professor in Georgia Tech\u0027s School of Applied Physiology this past year. His one-year stay at the Institute was made possible through the College of Sciences Faculty Development Program.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Cannabinoids that are produced naturally by the body are called endocannabinoids,\u0022 Dietrich said. \u0022The body\u0027s endocannabinoid system has evolved primarily for pain modulation -- that is, pain or stress activates the system naturally. This activation, in turn, helps the body to modulate the pain.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This natural analgesic system is independent of and complimentary to the body\u0027s opioid system,\u0022 he said, and it performs other natural functions such as vasodilation, bronchodilation and sedation. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Because anandamide and THC bind to the same receptor in the body, all these are also primary effects of smoking or ingesting cannabinoids from outside the body,\u0022 Dietrich said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor their study, researchers asked 24 young men to either run, cycle or sit. If they ran or cycled, participants began with a five-minute warm-up, then built up to a 70-80 percent heart rate, which they sustained for 45 minutes, followed by a cool-down.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIn those subjects, investigators documented a dramatic endocannabinoid increase in their body, providing the first evidence that exercise activates the endocannabinoid system. \u0022Numerous follow-up studies are necessary to understand the precise nature of this increase,\u0022  Dietrich said, but it remains an exciting discovery for him and his team.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Since exercise is physical stress -- albeit healthy stress -- and because it produces muscle break-down, I thought exercise might activate it. This is what we found,\u0022 he said. \u0022No other study has ever considered this possibility, which is why the results are so significant.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDietrich believes the human body begins to produce high levels of endocannabinoids - and thus a natural \u0022runner\u0027s high\u0022 -- during moderate-to-intense exercise that produces prolonged stress and pain.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Once the endocannabinoid system is highly activated, it causes a naturally induced high, as the endocannabinoids produce the same effect than when it is activated unnaturally -- by smoking THC for instance,\u0022 he said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt does not appear that this effect causes any harm to runners and athletes who experience it after intense exercise, however.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022In exercise, there is a reason why the endocannabinoid system is activated,\u0022 Dietrich said. \u0022One has to deal with a physical stressor, and the endocannabinoid system fulfills its purpose. Smoking marijuana is a different story. This is an unnatural abuse of the system - not intended to be used this way by evolution.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDietrich believes this study might provide a possible mechanism to explain why the \u0022runner\u0027s high\u0022 might be caused, and it suggests that exercise might be useful to help in the treatment of chronic pain or glaucoma, both of which are treated in some parts of the country in clinical experimental trials using plant-derived cannabinoids such as THC.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our work raises many questions,\u0022 Dietrich said. \u0022We need to characterize which types of exercise best activate the system, at what intensity, and at what duration,\u0022 he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022We also need to know: Are there sex differences? Why and when is the system overwhelmed? Can it be used to maximize performance in some way? How does this effect decision making - for example, at the end of a marathon race, or in a combat situation? Our findings produce entirely new avenues of research never considered previously,\u0022 he said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDietrich is an assistant professor of psychology at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, where he also directs the Department of Psychology\u0027s Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory. His experience at Georgia Tech was part of the College of Sciences Faculty Development Program, which Dean Gary Schuster said provides an exciting way for the Institute to help advance science throughout the state.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The whole idea here is that Georgia Tech has resources available to it that some other institutions in the University System of Georgia do not, and faculty members at those institutions need to stay current in their disciplines just as much as ours do,\u0022 Schuster said. \u0022After all, only people who are active in their disciplines can transmit that excitement and inspiration to their students.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Faculty Development Program provides an opportunity for other University System of Georgia faculty to spend either a semester or a year at Georgia Tech, collaborating on research and teaching students. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022It adds a new perspective to some of our courses, and it establishes a connection between us and other universities in Georgia,\u0022 Schuster said. \u0022I think it gives Georgia Tech a very positive way to contribute to research and teaching throughout the university system.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Study suggests the high experienced by athletes is similar to the buzz marijuana users experience.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2004-01-12 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:02","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2004-01-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2004-01-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"82381":{"id":"82381","type":"image","title":"A Student Runs Laps at Tech\u0027s Campus Recreation Ce","body":null,"created":"1449178087","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:28:07","changed":"1475894698","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:58"}},"media_ids":["82381"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}