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2007-9-3 23:16:33 |
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When it comes to sports, endurance types such as Marathons and triathlons may harm the right side of the heart in the athletes who regularly participate in such sports, increasing their risk of sudden death, according to a new study released on Monday. Belgium researchers found that endurance sports may change the hearts of some athletes in a way resulting in an abnormal heart rate and rhythm, a rare but life-threatening condition. Ventricular arrhythmia (VA), a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs in the ventricles or lower chambers of the heart explains why some top athletes die suddenly without any prior obvious symptoms. After studying 22 endurance athletes aged between 18 and 55 with VA and other health volunteers and 15 male endurance athletes without VA and a control group of non-athletes, the researchers at the University Hospital Gasthuisberg discovered that the right ventricle (RV) of the heart was not functioning normally in the athletes with VA. The study, published today in the European Heart Journal, suggests that 82 percent of athletes with VA have dysfunctional right ventricles which were larger in the VA endurance athletes than the athletes without VA. The larger right ventricles hold 20 percent more blood than the normal right ventricles, according to the study. The researchers say that the results indicate that endurance sports contribute to changes in the chambers of the heart that can cause heart attacks. Earlier studies have found VA in endurance athletes often results from damage to the right ventricle, which pumps blood to the lungs. The researchers say many risk factors such as genetic or environmental factors may cause VA although intense exercise or endurance sports could promote the arrhythmia. The study per se could not determine what exactly causes VA. But the researchers say evidence shows endurance exercise or sports may have detrimental effects on the RV in certain athletes. |
