Athlete ’s heart – Cardiology Basics
Athlete’s heart – Cardiology Basics
Athlete’s heart is thickening of the heart muscle due to constant training in response to increased circulatory demand. Athlete’s heart is not dangerous, it is a physiological adaptation of the heart to training and increased load. It is associated with a slow heart rate, called athlete’s bradycardia.
The slower resting heart rate is a protective mechanism to prevent undue rise with exercise as normally heart rate increases with intensity of exercise. There is an increase in the size of the chambers of the heart and increased efficacy of pumping to meet the high demand during endurance exercise.
The enlargement of heart was recognized in cross country skiers as early as the 19th century. Athlete’s heart usually occurs in endurance athletes and may also occur in heavy weight lifters.
Thickening of the heart muscle can be documented by ultrasound imaging of the heart known as echocardiogram. There could be alterations in the ECG as well.
Importance of athlete’s heart from the medical point of view is to differentiate it from a genetic heart muscle disorder known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. That disease is also characterised by abnormal thickening of heart muscle.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the commonest cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes and differentiation from athlete’s heart is very important. Simplest way to differentiate hypertrophic cardiomyopathy from athlete’s heart is to stop training for a ...
Source: Cardiophile MD - Category: Cardiology Authors: Johnson Francis Tags: General Cardiology Source Type: blogs
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