Intense Exercise May Cause Right Ventricular Dysfunction

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Regular exercise can increase life expectancy by an average of 7 years compared with a sedentary lifestyle, according to an editorial by Sharma and Zaidi, which accompanies the current study. Even modest doses of exercise can reduce the risk for mortality.

Endurance athletes may perform physical activity at levels 5 to 10 times greater than the exercise recommendations for preventing coronary atherosclerosis. Previous research suggests that athletes maintain indices of systolic and diastolic function associated with healthy cardiac function, although up to half of marathon runners can demonstrate elevated levels of serum cardiac troponin (cTnI).

This finding, along with a higher risk for atrial fibrillation among endurance athletes, has led to questions regarding whether endurance training among athletes is truly heart healthy.

Good luck getting exercise right.

BTW, the research failed to show any increased likelihood of death or illness.

Right now, La Gerche and colleagues are unsure of the implications of the right ventricle enlargement, although there are some causes of concern.

Yellow medical journalism.

Meaningless or worse.