Years of intense training, endurance and competitions can help increase the development of atrial fibrillation, especially in men
Even if something is good for you, taking too much of it always becomes counterproductive. It happens, for example, with an excess of vitamins or minerals at the table. And it happens with sport. be clear, physical activity is essential for our well-being, but what makes the difference is its intensity. A group of researchers, it reads on Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine
investigated the health of nearly a thousand runners, cyclists and triathletes; It has been seen how years of intense training, endurance and competitions can help increase the development, especially in men, of atrial fibrillation compared to the general population. the most common cardiac arrhythmia that leads the heart to go over the top, to have an irregular heartbeat due to loss of contractile efficiency of the atria. The researchers used an international online survey of agonists, whose mean age was 52 years and 84% were male; the authors point out how veteran endurance athletes who develop fibrillation may have a higher risk of stroke.
Sport like a drug: it must be dosed
This research confirms that strenuous sessions of physical activity conducted at high intensity, especially if practiced at an older age, can cause more harm than good, but it does not suggest not moving anymore — he begins Gianfranco Beltramispecialist in sports medicine and cardiology, vice president of the Italian sports medicine federation —. Intense and prolonged movement can promote inflammation, mechanical and metabolic stress with oxygen oxidation products, the so-called free radicals, which are the cause of premature aging, tissue wear and tear and the onset of numerous pathologies. In reverse, regular non-maximal physical activity improves the effectiveness of the immune system and the feeling of well-being, the efficiency of all the organs and systems of our body by slowing down the aging process. Exercise is like a very powerful drug: if taken adequately it’s good for you, but if you overdo it it can have harmful side effects. Can anyone who has fibrillation train? Slow-paced activities such as walking or cycling can be practiced with the favorable opinion of the cardiologist or sports doctor. In fact, performing physical activity can reduce the frequency and severity of fibrillation episodeslower blood pressure and resting heart rate.
The signs of when you exercise too much
The body warns us when we are overdoing it. Overtraining syndrome occurs when an athlete’s accumulated training stress exceeds his or her ability to recover – continues Beltrami -. The main symptoms are decreased performance, higher than normal heart rate or palpitations, persistent tiredness even after rest, difficulty sleeping or irregular sleep, persistent muscle soreness, mood changes, anxiety, increased susceptibility to colds.
What happens when we train
Physical activity changes the heart, usually for the better. During exercise, our body and especially our muscles require more oxygen than at rest,” he says Robert Pedretti, director of the cardiovascular department at IRCSS MultiMedica —. As a result, the respiratory rate increases to import more oxygen from the outside and the heart distributes it throughout the body, pumping more blood to the organs. To achieve this, raise both your heart rate and your contraction strength. Over time, this effort strengthens the heart, just like it does other muscles. In fact, in significantly trained people – continues the cardiologist -, the habit of exercise induces a structural remodeling known as “athlete’s heart”. Furthermore, the cardiovascular neurovegetative system that regulates the heart rate is also functionally remodeled and the heart rate values decrease (bradycardia) both at rest and with effort, at the same level of exercise. These modifications improve the efficiency of the cardiovascular system and contribute to the favorable effects that physical activity and sport induce on our physical and mental health..
How do you get to the diagnosis of fibrillation
Diagnosis is based on recording the arrhythmia atelectrocardiogram. The arrhythmia can be permanently present (permanent form) or stop spontaneously (paroxysmal form) or following treatment (persistent form) with antiarrhythmic drugs or with electrical cardioversion – continues Pedretti -. In some patients it can cause serious symptoms. However, it often does not show any signs. Not having any does not make the problem less important, since the risk of stroke is independent of the presence of symptoms and the form of the arrhythmia. In the absence of alarm bells, but in the case of perception of an irregular pulse or indications from wearable devices, such as smartwatches, or automatic blood pressure monitors, it is advisable to contact your doctor. This is even more important in people aged 65 and older with one or more cardiovascular and stroke risk factors: arterial hypertension, overweight and obesity, cigarette smoking, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, presence of a cardiovascular disease.
Because the risk of stroke is growing
Atrial fibrillation causes two main problems. The first related toelevated heart rate and the consequent reduction of the contractile efficiency of the heart; if some patients remain completely asymptomatic during atrial fibrillation, others complain of symptoms of a different nature such as palpitations, chest pain, dyspnoea (shortness of breath), fatigue up to loss of consciousness and heart failure – adds the expert -. The second problem represented by the increase of risk of stroke, linked to the loss of contractility of the atria following the arrhythmia which causes blood stasis. This can cause a possible formation of clots (thrombi) from which fragments (emboli) can break off which can reach the cerebral circulation determining that form of stroke defined as “cardioembolic”. L’cardioembolic stroke related to atrial fibrillation responsible for about 20-30% of all ischemic strokes and about 10% of the so-called “cryptogenic” ones, i.e. without an obvious cause after the diagnostic procedure. Since this is an epidemiologically very important event, prevention of cardioembolic stroke from atrial fibrillation is a key issue both at the individual and public health level. The risk of stroke is not equal in all patients with atrial fibrillation. In some, in fact, it is not very different from that of the general population, in others it is significantly higher – underlines Pedretti -. To measure it, one is used scorealso used by the researchers of the cited study, which takes into account the presence of heart failure, diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, history of previous stroke, known vascular disease, age and gender. Based on the values of this score clinicians can prescribe anticoagulant treatment that is very effective in preventing cardioembolic stroke”.
Data: 120,000 new cases per year
The prevalence of atrial fibrillation of 2-4%, tends to occur more in men and its occurrence increases with increasing age. This is a real “epidemic”: at the index age of 55, one in three people in Europe are at risk of developing atrial fibrillation in their lifetime. As for Italy, it affects one million people with 120 thousand new cases every year – concludes the cardiologist -. The epidemiological importance and its impact on health have generated debate regarding the most appropriate control strategies. possible to develop opportunistic screening strategiesso when the opportunity arises such as during a medical visit or a blood pressure measurement in the pharmacy, or systematic screening following the indications of the guidelines; predict that follow-up can be conducted in individuals over a certain age (usually 65 years) or with other stroke risk factors, using a 30-second electrocardiogram recording repeated a second time over 2 weeks . Also smartwatches and smartphones can be used for this purpose.
June 19, 2023 (change June 19, 2023 | 08:29)
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