Older male endurance athletes may be at higher risk of abnormal heart rhythms, according to a study funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging.
The study, led by a team at the University of Leeds, suggests that male endurance athletes who have spent decades training and competing are more likely to have scarring in their hearts than non-athletes.
Athletes with scarring were over 4.5 times more likely to experience an abnormal heart rhythm episode – which is linked with an increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest – compared to those without scarring, the findings suggest.
Source – British Heart Foundation