Relationship between strenuous exercise and cardiac "morbimortality": Benefits outweigh the potential risks

Abstract

Although it is well-known that regular exercise promotes health and longevity, there is growing concern about the potential association between long-term strenuous endurance exercise (hereinafter ‘strenuous exercise, SE’) and higher risk of some cardiac conditions. In the current issue of the Trends in Cardiovascular Medicine, a timely paper by Merghani et al. from the research group led by Sanjay Sharma, nicely reviews the scientific evidence available on the impact of SE on the healthy human heart. Based on After a thorough literature search, the authors raise doubts about the potential cause-effect relationship between SE and increased risk of cardiac conditions, particularly coronary heart disease (CAD), myocardial fibrosis or right ventricular (RV) dysfunction (as shown in Figure 1 of their paper).