Blood cells the missing link in post-exercise boost

Andy

Retired committee member
Thought this was quite interesting. If the research is correct, and exercise can generate platelets of different sorts, logic would seem to suggest that an issue with that process could have an adverse affect - but obviously there is a lot of ifs, buts and maybes to be answered there.
Dr Odette Leiter said the team found a lot of the changes that occurred in the blood following exercise were related to platelets, small cells in our blood.

“We found that platelets caused neural stem cells to multiply and develop into neurons, as opposed to other cell types that they also have the potential to form,” she said.

“Platelets are mostly known for their role in wound healing - they cause blood to clot and skin cells to adhere together – but we found the response activated in platelets after running was different to their wound healing response.

“It’s exciting because platelets are a lot more complex than originally thought, with the ability to release different molecules depending on the stimulus that has triggered them.”
https://qbi.uq.edu.au/article/2019/03/blood-cells-missing-link-post-exercise-boost
 
Platelets are mostly known for their role in wound healing - they cause blood to clot and skin cells to adhere together – but we found the response activated in platelets after running was different to their wound healing response.
A tenuous correlation could be that in both cases there are likely some kind of repairs going on? I think exercise results in some kind of material depletion that has to be recovered from? But just a wild guess, given I have no medical expertise whatsoever!
 
If it seems too good to be true, it probably is:
“We found that platelets caused neural stem cells to multiply and develop into neurons, as opposed to other cell types that they also have the potential to form,” she said.
There is uncertainty about whether humans have any significant capacity to grow new neurons at all. See: https://www.americanscientist.org/article/no-evidence-for-new-adult-neurons

I think you make a good observation, @Barry. The platelets are probably being recruited to deal with the tissue damage we do every time we exert ourselves.

My platelet counts have been excessively high for some years now - which is apparently common in some kinds of inflammatory diseases. And I certainly haven't noticed any intellectual benefits :cautious:

Also, reading this, I was reminded of what Hilda Bastian said here about exercise - she described it as "a sacred cow" to many. This whole article sounds okay only because everyone buys into the idea that exercise is "good for you". So sure, maybe amazing stuff really does happen when we do it? But imagine if they were talking about some other intervention - a drug or something. We'd be much more suspicious. Its like exercise research gets a free pass.
 
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