ATHLETIC HEART SYNDROME
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The heart adapts to physical demands by
enlarging, especially the left ventricle. Enlargement increases the
cardiac output, the amount of blood pumped with each beat of the
heart. The exact type of adaptation depends on the nature of the
physical demand. There are two types of demand, static and dynamic.
Static demand involves smaller groups of muscles under extreme
resistance for brief period. An example is weight lifting. Dynamic
training involves larger groups of muscles at lower resistance for
extended periods of time. Examples are aerobic training and tennis.
Cardiac enlargement is associated with dynamic training. The heart's
response to static training is hypertrophy, thickening of the muscle
walls of the heart. As the wall of the heart adapts, there are
changes in the electrical conducting system of the heart. Because of
the larger volume of blood being pumped with each heart beat, the
heart rate when at rest decreases below the normal level for
nonathletes.
Sudden unexpected death (SUD) is the death of an athlete, usually
during or shortly after physical activity. Often, there is no
warning that the person will experience SUD, although in some cases,
warning signs appear which cause the person to seek medical advice.
Importantly, cases of death occurring during physical activity are
not caused by athletic heart syndrome, but by undiagnosed heart
disorders. |
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| ATHLETIC HEART SYNDROME RELATED ITEMS |
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