Strenuous Endurance Exercise and the Heart: Physiological versus Pathological Adaptations

Although the benefits of regular physical activity on cardiovascular health are well established, the effects of strenuous endurance exercise (SEE) have been a matter of debate since ancient times. In this article, we aim to provide a balanced overview of what is known about SEE and the heart—from e...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Valenzuela Tallón, Pedro Luis, Baggish, Aaron, Castillo-García, Adrián, Santos-Lozano, Alejandro, Boraita, Araceli, Lucia, Alejandro
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repositorio:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/44279
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2040-4603.2022.tb00239.x
https://hdl.handle.net/10578/44279
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Atrial fibrillation
Cardiac adaptations
Cardiac biomarkers
Cardiovascular health
Myocardial fibrosis
Strenuous endurance exercise
Descripción
Sumario:Although the benefits of regular physical activity on cardiovascular health are well established, the effects of strenuous endurance exercise (SEE) have been a matter of debate since ancient times. In this article, we aim to provide a balanced overview of what is known about SEE and the heart—from epidemiological evidence to recent cardiac imaging findings. Lifelong SEE is overall cardioprotective, with endurance master athletes showing in fact a youthful heart. Yet, some lines of research remain open, such as the need to elucidate the time-course and potential relevance of transient declines in heart function (or increases in biomarkers of cardiac injury) with SEE. The underlying mechanisms and clinical relevance of SEE-associated atrial fibrillation, myocardial fibrosis, or high coronary artery calcium scores also remain to be elucidated