Canterbury christ church university in canterbury, University in Canterbury, England

A new study suggested that younger athletes are at a higher risk of atrial fibrillation than older athletes.The study also found that athletes appear to be almost two and half times more likely than non-athletes to experience irregular heart rhythms (atrial fibrillation).The findings of the study were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.In addition, those athletes involved in mixed sports such as football, rugby or netball appear to have the highest risk when compared with athletes taking part in endurance sports such as Nordic skiing, orienteering or rowing.Previous studies have shown that physical activity can improve cardiovascular health and is associated with reduced illness and deaths, but they have suggested there is a threshold beyond which exposure to increasing levels of exercise is linked to heart issues including atrial fibrillation - a condition that can raise the risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related problems.UK researchers led by Canterbury Christ Church University in Canterbury set out to review existing studies on the subject and explore what impact the type of sport in which athletes took part had on their risk of atrial fibrillation to reach a more conclusive picture of overall prevalence among athletes.They reviewed and analysed 13 suitable studies that were published between 1990 and December 2020 which had looked at athletes who took part in sports including cycling, running, swimming, Nordic skiing, orienteering, rowing, football, rugby, and netball.The 13 studies included data on 70,478 participants, collectively, which included 63,662 controls and 6,816 athletes.The authors found that the risk of atrial fibrillation was 2.46 times higher among athletes than non-athletes.When the authors split the studies into those that involved participants with and without cardiovascular disease risk factors (such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure), they found there was no significant difference in the relative risk of atrial fibrillation in athletes and non-athletes with these risk factors.However, in athletes and non-athletes without cardiovascular disease risk factors, athletes had a significantly higher relative risk (3.7 times higher) of atrial fibrillation than non-athletes.In addition, younger athletes (aged under 55) had a much higher risk (3.6 times) of atrial fibrillation than older athletes (aged 55 and older) who were 76 per cent more likely to have the condition than non-athletes.Analysis also showed that athletes taking part in mixed sports rather than endurance sports had a higher risk of atrial fibrillation.Their study had some limitations such as the fact that it analysed research with different approaches such as case control and cohort design, and there was limited data on female athletes, making it difficult to look at the relative risk of atrial fibrillation by gender.Nevertheless, the researchers said, "Athletes have a significantly greater likelihood of developing atrial fibrillation compared with non-athlete controls.""Younger aged athletes have a greater relative risk of atrial fibrillation compared with older athletes; however, exercise dose parameters, including training and competition history, as well as potential gender differences for the risk of atrial fibrillation requires future research," the researchers concluded.( With inputs from ANI )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Canterbury Christ Church University In CanterburyFOLLOW

Canterbury christ church university in canterbury, Latest News

Chester-le-Street (Durham), July 21 Recalled England opener Haseeb Hameed scored a fighting century to help County Select XI ... ...

Nagpur, July 21 Before departing for Tokyo Olympics the only table tennis referee from India Mangesh Mopkar who will ... ...

London, July 21 Pace bowler Ollie Robinson, who was recently caught in a racism controversy, has been picked ... ...

England men's head coach Chris Silverwood on Wednesday named a 17-player squad for the opening two Tests of the five-match series against India starting at Trent Bridge on August 4. ...

England won the three-match T20I series against Pakistan with a thrilling three-wicket victory here at Old Trafford, Manchester on Tuesday night. ...

Little Maestro Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday exhorted the Indian athletics contingent heading to the Olympic Games in Tokyo to chase their dreams of winning medals for the country. ...

London, July 18 Ahead of the start of the inaugural season of The Hundred on July 21, the ... ...

A new study suggested that younger athletes are at a higher risk of atrial fibrillation than older athletes. ...