Genes reveal clues to ‘athlete’s heart disease’ syndrome

Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Dec. 19, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Elite athletes who suffer cardiac arrest may have genetic genes that make them more susceptible to heart disease, a new study suggests.

An analysis of more than 280 top endurance athletes showed that one in six had measurements typically indicative of heart disease and reduced heart function, researchers report in the journal cycle.

Researchers say these athletes also carry high levels of genes linked to heart disease.

The phenomenon of athlete hearts has long been known, but we are the first team to study the role athletes’ genetic makeup plays in their heart function and structure, says molecular cardiologist Diane Fatkin of the Victor Chang Heart Institute. Fatkin said. Sydney said in a press release.

“We found that the changes that occurred were much more profound than thought, and that many athletes did experience changes in their heart function,” she continued.

A series of recent near-tragedies on sports fields and gymnasiums has sparked growing interest in the effects of strenuous exercise on the heart of elite athletes.

In late July, USC freshman guard Bronny James, the son of Lakers basketball star LeBron James, collapsed from cardiac arrest during an offseason workout.

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered an on-field cardiac arrest during a football game in 2022 after being hit in the chest while making a tackle.

The athletes in the new study were participants in the Pro@Heart study, an international program designed to assess the long-term health effects of high-level exercise.

Researcher Andre La Gerce, head of sports cardiology at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, said in a press release that we have long known that the hearts of elite athletes are significantly different from those of the general population. different.

Exercise can promote profound changes in the heart. All elite athletes have big hearts, but there’s still quite a difference between big and huge. The long-term significance of the most extreme changes is uncertain, Lagerles added.

Athletes underwent cardiac imaging and exercise testing as well as genetic analysis in six cities in Australia and Belgium.

About 16 percent of people had cardiac indicators commonly associated with heart disease, such as an enlarged heart, irregular heartbeats, a fast heartbeat, and changes in the left ventricle (the chamber responsible for pumping oxygenated blood into the body).

This decrease in cardiac function is only observed when the athlete is at rest. During exercise, their hearts functioned at supernormal levels, suggesting that these organs are able to significantly increase their pumping action when increased cardiac output is required.

In addition, the researchers found that athletes with the highest genetic burden associated with heart disease were 11 times more likely to experience declines in markers of heart function.

“It’s important that we don’t think these athletes have heart disease because they can still perform at very high levels,” Fatkin said. But we don’t know what the long-term effects are, and whether that means these athletes will continue to have heart disease. Cardiomyopathy.

Lagerles said the study highlights the need to closely monitor the heart health of high-level athletes.

‘We want to keep athletes healthy and prevent them from going into cardiac arrest,’ he said. The better we understand the minds of athletes, the better we can identify risks before tragedy strikes.

The researchers plan to follow these athletes over the next 25 years to see if they continue to develop heart problems.

Hein Heidbuchel, a professor and researcher at the Department of Cardiology at the University Hospital of Antwerp in Belgium, said that regular exercise has obvious health benefits. But there may be a small group of people whose genetic predisposition is conducive to developing an excellent athletic heart at a young age, but could be dangerous in the long run if they continue to exercise at such a high level.

Source: Victor Chang Heart Institute, press release, December 18, 2023

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