Shaking hands maybe a

 danger to their health

The British Olympic Association’s chief medical officer, Dr Ian McCurdie, believes athletes could easily pick up a harmful virus in the “stressful environment” of the London 2012 Games.

As a result, Dr McCurdie has commanded British athletes to not shake hands as he considers it to be a very real danger to their health. He states that “Within reason YES. I think that it’s not such a bad thing to advice.”

“if you do have to shake hands with people, so long as you understand that regular handwashing and/or also using hand foam can help reduce the risk – that would be a good point.”

The advice follows a detailed study of health and related issues by the BOA, which remains committed to sending a fully-prepared team to London 2012.

Athletes adviced to use special hand form for

addition protection

Dr McCurdie has reportedly provided tips for the 550 athletes and 450 support staff which include regular handwashing and use of special hand foam for additional protection.

Athletes are also being advised to be tested for allergies and told to report any symptoms early and consider the use of probiotic drinks to help ward off infection.

Dr McCurdie said: “At an Olympic Games or any major event the performance impact of becoming ill or even feeling a little bit ill can be significant. Essentially we are talking about minimising risk of illness and optimising resistance.”

The BOA says the Olympic environment is “a pretty hostile one” and that it will be a first-time experience for many athletes and support staff.

The team will also have to contend with sleep deprivation and longer working hours, and being on home soil will add
“another layer of stress”, Dr McCurdie said.

“Being at an Olympic Games means you are normally inside a bubble and so there is effectively quite a limited number of people that you interact with when you are away in another country, In London we do not believe that is going to be the case. The variety of people the athletes and support staff are going to interact with is going to be huge.”

Read more on this article at Eurosport [Online] at http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/06032012/58/london-2012-gb-athletes-told-shake-hands.html