Originally published September 4 2005
Athletes have bigger hearts than non-athletes, study shows
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Recent research posted on WebMD.com shows that athletes have biger hearts compared to non-athletes.
New research shows that in world-class athletes, an enlarged heart may not raise the risk of heartbeat problems.
Specifically, researchers looked at the heart's upper left chamber (the left atrium) in more than 1,700 competitive athletes.
They found that relatively few athletes had left atrial enlargement and that the condition didn't raise the odds of having an irregular or abnormally fast heartbeat called atrial fibrillation.
But most of us are nowhere near that level of athletic achievement.
It's always wise to get any heart concerns checked out by a doctor and to follow medical advice about heart care.
The study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
The researchers included Antonio Pelliccia, MD, of the National Institute of Sports Medicine with the Italian National Olympic Committee.
In atrial fibrillation blood isn't completely pumped out of the upper chambers of the heart.
If the clot travels, leaving the heart, it can block arteries in the brain, causing a stroke.
The other athletes in the study had participated in national and regional competitions.
* Those with an enlarged left atrium weren't more likely to have irregular or abnormally fast heartbeats.
In 2003, the researchers checked in with the athletes who had had enlarged left atria and no other heart problems.
The "vast majority" was still training and competing as hard as ever, and "virtually all" were healthy and had no heart problems, write the researchers.
Only 2% of the athletes had a left atrium that was 45 millimeters or bigger.
The upper range was 46 millimeters in women and 50 millimeters in men.
That might be the "outer limit" of exercise's effect on heart size, and enlargements beyond that might stem from health problems, write the researchers.
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