ABSTRACT
Sports competition can be a trigger to fatal arrhythmias in predisposed individuals, leading to sudden cardiac death. Athletes have 2.8 fold more risk of sudden cardiac death than non-athletes. However, female athletes seem to have some cardiac protection, dying suddenly much less than men during sports. Although the mechanisms for this protection have not been well established until now, hormonal, genetic and molecular factors may play a role in it. The so-called "fair sex" might harbour the key for sudden cardiac death prevention
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Sports/physiology , Prevalence , Death, Sudden, Cardiac/prevention & control , Arrhythmias, Cardiac , Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic , Coronary Artery Disease , Sex Factors , Electrocardiography/methodsABSTRACT
Sudden cardiac death in sports is still controversial. Despite being a rare event, the death of an apparently healthy young athlete causes a major impact on the media. On the other hand, for being a rare event, it is clearly undervalued. Sports preparticipation cardiological assessment is one of the most effective preventive medical actions for professional and amateur endurance athletes. The regular and supervised practice of physical exercise does not kill. We believe that deaths are triggered by excessive physical training and use of drugs, in individuals with not diagnosed or undervalued heart diseases. It is necessary to make health professionals and athletes aware of the athletes' physiological limits, in addition to preparing the athletes properly when they try to overcome human limits
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Adolescent , Adult , Sports , Death, Sudden , Physical Endurance , Comorbidity , Athletes , Heart ArrestABSTRACT
A prática regular de exercícios de alta intensidade tem sido relacionada com alterações no tamanho e no ritmo cardíaco de atletas há séculos. Mais recentemente, com o avanço dos exames complementares no século 20, tais alterações foram bem descritas e definidas como adaptações fisiológicas, sendo conhecidas como "coração de atleta". Entretanto, até meados da década de 90 estas adaptações não tinham sido descritas em mulheres. Acredita-se que isso se deva não só à presença de menos atletas do sexo feminino até aquele período e com uma intensidade menor de treinamento, mas também à quantidade inferior de androgênios circulantes. Atualmente, as adaptações do coração de atleta também, têm sido evidenciadas nas mulheres atletas, porém, parecem ocorrer de maneira diferente e em menor proporção do que os homens atletas.
Regular intensive physical training has been associated with changes in cardiac size and heart rate for centuries. Recently, with the advancement of multimodality imaging in the 20th century, such changes have been well described and defined as physiological adaptations, known as the "athlete's heart", However, until the middle of the 90's these adaptations had never been described in women, not only because of the small number of female athletes until that time, but also due to the lower amount of circulating androgens. Recently, adaptations of the athlete's heart have also been demonstrated in women, but it seems to occur differently and less extensive than in men athletes.