The harder you work out, the greater your risk of some
kinds of heart disease.
Huh?
Yup. That’s sort of the conclusion of a 20-year-long study
of more than 52000 Swedish cross-country skiers that was published in the European Heart Journal.
In this study, the researchers were able to get this huge
data base from a very popular – and elite (these skiers all have to work out
intensely all year long) - cross-country ski race in Sweden and were then able
to analyze the runners’ histories.
And what they found is quite remarkable.
These athletes had a significantly higher risk of being
diagnosed with one of several different types of heart arrhythmia including
atrial fibrillation than a non-athlete.
Not only that, there was a direct linear “dose” link with
exercise so that the athletes who completed the most races had the highest risk
of Not only that, the more races completed, the higher the risk.
And even more interesting, the better the finishing time,
the higher the risk, that is, the fastest athletes – presumably the most fit –
had a much higher risk for an arrhythmia than slower racers.
Bottom line: participation in exercise in moderation is a
healthy lifestyle habit, participating in extreme exercise may not be (I think,
is not) healthy.
