Cardiac arrhythmia and doing sports – is that dangerous?
The risk of sudden cardiac death in athletes in connection with cardiac arrhythmia has been much discussed in recent years. This raises the question of whether sport is dangerous for existing cardiac arrhythmias. In principle, physical activity and sport protect the heart from many diseases and also from cardiac arrhythmias.
In particular, the risk of newly occurring cardiac arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation is greatly reduced by regular light to moderate physical activity. Especially if the sports activity is done until old age, the protective effect on the heart health is achieved. Even light endurance sports (e.g. brisk walking) are beneficial to health, while too intensive strength training and endurance training does not necessarily have a positive effect on the heart.
Why sport can help to prevent cardiac arrhythmia is not yet fully understood. One possible explanation is that sport contributes to weight loss, a slower heartbeat, improved fat and sugar metabolism and lower blood pressure. So sport is not dangerous in principle, it even promotes heart health.
However, in individual cases of previously unknown or diagnosed heart disease, intensive sporting activity can lead to life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia. Fortunately, this occurs very rarely. If, however, warning symptoms are known which indicate heart disease, a medical examination should be carried out before intensive sporting activity is undertaken.
In the case of a known cardiac arrhythmia, exercise at the right frequency and intensity can also be beneficial to heart health.Here it depends on a good individual consultation with the treating physician, which sports are suitable and which intensity should be aimed at. Some tachycardic arrhythmias can be treated with the help of modern therapeutic procedures such as catheter ablation. As a rule, after such treatment, sporting activity is possible and desirable again after a certain period of time.
If a cardiac dysrhythmia is treated with medication, the effect of the medication may, under certain circumstances, lead to a reduction in performance. In this case, too, the right type of sport and the intensity level of physical activity should be discussed individually with the doctor. The sporting activity should always be discontinued if symptoms such as dizziness, severe shortness of breath or heart stumbling occur during training. In this case a doctor must be consulted. Our next article may also be of interest to you: Heart stumbling under stress
