Olympic athletes submit their bodies to grueling training.…

Olympic athletes submit their bodies to grueling training. And then they soar around the world to meet the competition . American east coast athletes traveled five time zones to get to London. West coast 1 leapt over eight. And increased the odds that they'll get a cold, if not the gold. So says a study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Researchers tracked 259 elite rugby players in the 2010 Super 14 Rugby Tournament. The 16 weeks of games took place in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. On average, there were 21 2 per thousand player-days. But players in their home countries endured only 15 illnesses per thousand days. And when a team traveled more than five time zones in either direction, illnesses rates more than doubled. The number dropped back to 10 after they flew back home. The illnesses were primarily 3, such as respiratory or intestinal illnesses.A weakened immune system does not appear to be a factor. The researchers suggest that 4 in temperature, pollution, allergens and different foods and local microbes are the likeliest culprits. One more 5 that might give European Olympians a home field advantage.