(Press-News.org) Athletes may have more than twice the risk of irregular heart rhythm
Younger athletes are at greater risk of atrial fibrillation than older athletes, say researchers
Athletes appear to be almost two and half times more likely than non-athletes to experience irregular heart rhythms (atrial fibrillation), suggests new research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
In addition, those athletes involved in mixed sports such as football, rugby or netball appear to have the highest risk when compared with athletes taking part in endurance sports such as Nordic skiing, orienteering or rowing.
Previous studies have shown that physical activity can improve cardiovascular health and is associated with reduced illness and deaths, but they have suggested there is a threshold beyond which exposure to increasing levels of exercise is linked to heart issues including atrial fibrillation - a condition that can raise the risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related problems.
UK researchers led by Canterbury Christ Church University in Canterbury set out to review existing studies on the subject and explore what impact the type of sport in which athletes took part had on their risk of atrial fibrillation to reach a more conclusive picture of overall prevalence among athletes.
They reviewed and analysed 13 suitable studies that were published between 1990 and December 2020 which had looked at athletes who took part in sports including cycling, running, swimming, Nordic skiing, orienteering, rowing, football, rugby, and netball.
The 13 studies included data on 70,478 participants, collectively, which included 63,662 controls and 6,816 athletes.
The authors found that the risk of atrial fibrillation was 2.46 times higher among athletes than non-athletes.
When the authors split the studies into those that involved participants with and without cardiovascular disease risk factors (such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure), they found there was no significant difference in the relative risk of atrial fibrillation in athletes and non-athletes with these risk factors.
However, in athletes and non-athletes without cardiovascular disease risk factors athletes had a significantly higher relative risk (3.7 times higher) of atrial fibrillation than non-athletes.
In addition, younger athletes (aged under 55) had a much higher risk (3.6 times) of atrial fibrillation than older athletes (aged 55 and older) who were 76% more likely to have the condition than non-athletes.
Analysis also showed that athletes taking part in mixed sports rather than endurance sports had a higher risk of atrial fibrillation.
Their study had some limitations such as the fact that it analysed research with different approaches such as case control and cohort design, and there was limited data on female athletes, making it difficult to look at the relative risk of atrial fibrillation by gender.
Nevertheless, the researchers conclude: "Athletes have a significantly greater likelihood of developing atrial fibrillation compared with non-athlete controls.
"Younger aged athletes have a greater relative risk of atrial fibrillation compared with older athletes; however, exercise dose parameters, including training and competition history, as well as potential gender differences for the risk of atrial fibrillation requires future research."
INFORMATION:
Externally peer reviewed? Yes
Evidence type: Systematic review and analysis
Subjects: People
The burden of hospital admission rates due to heart attacks (myocardial infarctions) in England rose between 2012 and 2016, despite decades of falling rates, suggests new research published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
Researchers also found that after 2010-2011, rates increased in most age groups and young women aged 35 to 49 and even younger men aged 15 to 34 were the groups that showed the sharpest increases in hospitalisation rates for heart attacks in the last five years of the study.
Death rates from coronary heart disease and heart attacks have been declining in England and other countries since the 1980s. Despite this, coronary heart disease is still a large cause of ...
A greater proportion of men than women exhibit bullying behaviours during medical training and academic practice, and only a minority of victims report their experiences, suggests new research published in the online journal BMJ Open.
Previous studies have reported that bullying is common in medicine with likely impacts on mental health, professional interactions, and career advancement. Surveys from the UK's NHS have reported 55% of staff experienced bullying and around a third were doctors in training. The prevalence of academic bullying within medical ...
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medically safe mental health intervention, according to a new study led by CAMH researcher Dr. Tyler Kaster as part of his doctoral studies at ICES and the University of Toronto. The study was published today in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry, and is among the largest and most comprehensive to compare the safety of ECT with standard treatment amongst individuals with depression.
Multiple studies over a period of decades have confirmed the effectiveness of ECT as a mental health intervention for people with treatment-resistant depression. Up to 80 per cent of people with severe depression who receive ECT achieve remission. However, despite this success rate, only one per cent of people with severe depression ever ...
A single tree along a city street or in a backyard can provide measurable cooling benefits, according to a new study from American University. The research shows that "distributed" trees, those that are stand-alone and scattered throughout urban neighborhoods, can help to reduce evening heat. The research suggests that planting individual trees can be a strategy to mitigate urban heat, particularly in areas where land for parks can be scarce.
"There are plenty of good reasons to plant trees, but our study shows we shouldn't underestimate the role that individual trees can play in mitigating heat in urban areas," said Michael ...
Highlights
Patients with kidney failure did not report better experience with care from more frequent face-to-face visits with kidney specialists at dialysis facilities.
In fact, more frequent visits were linked with slightly lower patient-reported experiences with kidney-related care.
Washington, DC (July 12, 2021) -- In a recent analysis, more frequent kidney specialists' visits to clinics where patients with kidney failure undergo outpatient hemodialysis were not associated with more favorable patient-reported experiences with care. In fact, more frequent visits were associated with slightly lower patient-reported experiences. The findings will appear in an upcoming ...
Scientists have discovered a novel way to classify magnetized plasmas that could possibly lead to advances in harvesting on Earth the fusion energy that powers the sun and stars. The discovery by theorists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) found that a magnetized plasma has 10 unique phases and the transitions between them might hold rich implications for practical development.
The spatial boundaries, or transitions, between different phases will support localized wave excitations, the researchers found. "These findings could lead to possible applications of these exotic excitations ...
Emotions towards and cultural importance of large carnivores are better predictors of the acceptance of management strategies by local communities than the extent of livestock depredation. This is the result of a new interdisciplinary investigation led by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW). They conducted 100 questionnaires with Maasai pastoralists in Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania, focusing on three large carnivore species (spotted hyenas, lions and leopards) and three management strategies (no action, relocation and lethal control). An emphasis on socio-cultural variables is key to ...
One of the most significant challenges in the global R&D effort towards better energy technologies -- efficient and accurate material simulation -- may be one step closer to being solved, based on new techniques released by UK-based quantum software startup Phasecraft.
The new peer-reviewed study in the Physical Review B journal from the American Physical Society sets out a novel technique for modelling fermionic particles -- like electrons -- which significantly reduces the quantum hardware resources needed to perform simulations.
Phasecraft's Joel Klassen, who co-led the study, explained, "One of the most exciting potential applications for quantum computing ...
LOWELL, Mass. - Researchers led by a UMass Lowell environmental science professor say mercury measurements in a Massachusetts forest indicate the toxic element is deposited in forests across the globe in much greater quantities than previously understood.
The team's results underscore concern for the health and well-being of people, wildlife and waterways, according to Prof. Daniel Obrist, as mercury accumulating in forests ultimately runs off into streams and rivers, ending up in lakes and oceans.
Mercury is a highly toxic pollutant that threatens fish, birds, mammals and humans. Hundreds of tons of it are ...
PITTSBURGH, July 12, 2021 - States that legalize recreational marijuana experience a short-term decline in opioid-related emergency department visits, particularly among 25- to 44-year-olds and men, according to an analysis led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.
Published today in the journal Health Economics, the study shows that even after the temporary decline wears off, recreational cannabis laws are not associated with increases in opioid-related emergency department visits.
"This isn't trivial--a decline in opioid-related emergency department visits, even if only for six months, is a welcome public health development," said lead author Coleman Drake, Ph.D., assistant professor ...
