(NaturalPath) In 2012, researchers concluded that repeated bouts of intensive endurance exercise at the elite level may result in the pathological enlargement of the right ventricle, which is associated with potential health hazards including sudden cardiac death. According to a study out of Saarland University in Belgium and published in the medical journal Circulation, researchers tested the conclusions by examining the hearts of elite master endurance athletes, and came to contradictory conclusions as their colleague in 2012.
While this topic is ongoing in its debate, the general consensus is that the enlarged heart of an athlete is a healthy reaction reflecting the adjustment of the organ to regular endurance training. However, some studies seem to suggest that high levels of endurance exercise can cause pathological changes to the structure of the heart. The colleagues in 2012 came to that conclusion that long-term damage to the right ventricle in athletes who have taken part in several hours of competitive endurance sport (now known as exercise-induced arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy). The researchers in this study did not find evidence to support that claim.
They evaluated 33 elite master athletes (with an average age of 47 years old) and compared them to a similar control group of 33 men, accounting for age, size, and weight but who had not done any kind of endurance exercise. The elite master athletes had been training for around 30 years and had still continued their training for an average of 17 hours per week. As expected, the hearts of the elite master athletes were significantly larger and stronger. But the researchers noted, “We found no evidence of lasting damage, pathological enlargement or functional impairment of either the right or left ventricle in the athletes who had been doing long-term intensive elite-level endurance exercise.”
Razi Berry, Founder and Publisher of Naturopathic Doctor News & Review (ndnr.com) and NaturalPath (thenatpath.com), has spent the last decade as a natural medicine advocate and marketing whiz. She has galvanized and supported the naturopathic community, bringing a higher quality of healthcare to millions of North Americans through her publications. A self-proclaimed health-food junkie and mother of two; she loves all things nature, is obsessed with organic gardening, growing fruit trees (not easy in Phoenix), laughing until she snorts, and homeschooling. She is a little bit crunchy and yes, that is her real name.