Exercise, over-indulgence and atrial fibrillation — seeing the obvious

If you like thinking and writing, few topics are better than the excess exercise and heart disease story. Indeed it is a matter for the curious. Two studies published last week in the British journal Heart addressed the relationship of exercise and heart disease. (See references below.) Although these studies garnered mainstream media attention they added little to what is already known. Namely, that moderate exercise is protective and excessive exercise is detrimental. This has been dubbed the J-curve of exercise. You could also call it…obvious. I’ve been to this place so many times, I was going to leave it alone this time. Two things changed my mind. One was a series of comments on my Is Atrial fibrillation Necessary post on theHeart.org. The post describes the fact that lifestyle factors, not bad luck, play a central role in atrial fibrillation and its treatment. I believe this research, from scientists in Adelaide Australia, is the most important work in all of electrophysiology. The Australians are exposing are blind spot. Their findings force us to look at AF as a modifiable acquired disease. Modifiable not with drugs, or freezes, or burns, but with simple lifestyle choices. What we eat, how we sleep, how much weight we carry–these are the things that matter to the health of our atria. What makes the Australian work so compelling is that they connect basic science and physiology to real-world clinical outcomes. It’s important to note that the Ade...
Source: Dr John M - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: blogs