Audax UK Members and other yacf contributors will recall the publicity recently given in the press and other media to research results conducted on the benefits to respiratory health of long distance cycling, that research being based on work done with Audax UK cyclists. The team concerned, led by Audax UK member Norman Lazarus, are extending their research, and Norman has asked that we put out the appeal below to members for your assistance
Call for Volunteers from Audax UK Cyclists
Kings College Research Team
Audax UK cyclists previously volunteered so that the Guy’s Team could uncover a relationship between age, exercise and health. As a result of your input, ground breaking findings were published in the scientific press and gained world-wide publicity.
The Guy’s team are asking men aged fifty and over to please come forward again, in order to take part in a study on lung function. Many Audax cyclists will remember taking part in the initial study in 2016, which, thanks to your participation, was awarded a prize for research excellence by the British Thoracic Society in 2017. We would now like to consolidate these findings in around 10 more volunteers, so that we can complete the study and publish our findings this year.
The study will involve spending half a day at King’s College Hospital undergoing testing. We are particularly interested in understanding the role the diaphragm exerts on neural respiratory drive and breathlessness. Ultimately these tests will give important information on breathlessness in disease.
You will be tested by expert respiratory doctors and technicians in order to ensure that the research is of the highest quality. There is very low risk involved especially for healthy cyclists. You will however be asked to swallow two thin tubes (smaller than the inside of a biro) so that the electrical activity of the diaphragm can be measured. These are routine medical tests and most of the testing team have undergone the procedure with little difficulty.
Accepted volunteers will be given, in addition to the specific diaphragm test, a full lung function “MOT”.
Interested cyclists (who have not previously taken part in this study) should please get in touch with Caroline at the email address below, where greater detail of what to expect during your four hour visit to King’s will be given.
Thanks, and regards,
Professor Norman Lazarus
Email: caroline.jolley@kcl.ac.uk