Title
Physical activity and cardiac remodeling
Research Area
Health
Author
Dawes , T J W et al; Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging
Summary of Findings
Cardiac mass, and volumes, are often elevated in athletes but this study looked to better understand whether moderate physical activity is also associated with cardiac dilatation and hypertrophy in a healthy adult population.
1,096 participants were selected for this study, all of them had no cardiovascular disease or cardiomyopathy-associated genetic variants. They were all asked to complete a questionnaire on their physical activity levels and then took part in cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.
On analysing the data the researchers found that those who were more physically active had a greater left ventricular mass and higher ventricular volumes (both left and right). Additionally the effects of exercise appeared to be greater than systolic blood pressure. They concluded that as a result of the changes to the heart caused by exercise "there is a risk of over diagnosing cardiac dilatation or hypertrophy in a proportion of active, healthy adults".
Implications
The research found that exercise-related cardiac remodelling isn't restricted only to elite or trained athletes. The researchers concluded that this physiological adaptation should be considered when assessing adults for heart disease by CMR because the effects of exercise on the heart are of equal or greater importance than those of age or blood pressure.
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