Exercise gets a clean bill of health

The message ‘Exercise is Medicine’ has been supported by research into the impact of cardiac scarring, visible in some athletes. The project found the cardiac ‘mal-adaptations’, typically observed in lifelong athletes likely have only minor clinical significance.

Regular exercise training is known to improve cardiovascular health and longevity. For this purpose, the World Health Organization recommends adults perform 150 minute per week of moderate intensity physical activity. Recent studies, however, report that acute and/or lifelong high volumes of vigorous intensity endurance exercise can lead to cardiac mal-adaptations. These include increased concentrations of biomarkers, reflecting cardiomyocyte damage, and the presence of scar tissue in the heart of presumably healthy athletes.

Further details: Exercise gets a clean bill of health