When is it allowed to do sports for chronic conditions?
In rare cases, Pfeiffer’s glandular fever can become chronic and those affected suffer from fatigue and fever for months or years. In the case of fever, no sports should be done, as the disease is being fought acutely and the body needs the energy. The other important symptom is the swelling of the spleen. If the spleen is not enlarged and there is no fever surge, sports can be done after consultation with the treating physician.
Complications due to too early sport activity
In the case of whistling glandular fever, the spleen may become enlarged. This enlargement does not always subside at the same time as the other symptoms. Even when there is a perceived improvement, i.e. after the tonsillitis and fever have subsided, the spleen may still be swollen to such an extent that the organ may tear if too much strain is applied.
A rupture of the spleen can be life-threatening. Another consequence of lack of protection after serious infectious diseases can be inflammation of the heart muscle or the pericardium. The symptoms here are, similar to a heart attack, severe pain in the chest area and a subjective shortness of breath. A resurgence of the disease after the symptoms have subsided is rare and usually not due to premature exposure. Sport should be started slowly after the prescribed resting phase, as the body is not yet fully able to cope with stress.
Mononucleosis and alcohol consumption
In the acute phase of the disease, the liver (heptomegaly) can become enlarged. There are two different variants of liver enlargement: firstly, harmonic heptomegaly and disharmonic heptomegaly. This is because the liver is divided into different segments.
In total there are 8 different areas of the organ, which are individually and independently supplied with vessels. Due to these separations, the liver can only be enlarged in certain segments. Since the liver is a very important metabolic organ and extremely important for our body, especially because it breaks down a lot and detoxifies the organism, an enlargement is not very beneficial and one should pay attention to some things.
It not only breaks down medicines and toxins, but also drinks such as alcohol. If the liver is enlarged and apparently affected, alcohol consumption should be avoided at all costs. This would contribute to the liver becoming even more overstretched and irreparable damage could result.
The alcohol must first be split before it is excreted. To do this, the liver, or more precisely the liver cells, have enzymes ready to break down the alcohol into acetaldehyde, which is harmful to the body. If the liver has enough capacity, this is immediately converted further into acetate.
The enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase is available for this purpose. If the liver is no longer able to break down the acetaldehyde because it is no longer functioning properly, this can have bad consequences for the body, because the liver cells are considerably damaged. However, there is an advantage for the liver in that damaged liver cells can regenerate, provided they have the time to do so.
This means that one should refrain from alcohol for quite some time. Only if this is adhered to can major and irreparable damage be stopped. The enlarged liver, the disease and the consumption of alcohol can lead to an enormous remodelling of the organ and to major loss of function.
This happens so much faster than if “only” too much alcohol is drunk, without the liver being additionally enlarged. In the worst case, the liver is so scarred that it shrinks and to a large extent no longer functions. It is then called a shrunken liver.
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