Tag Archives: exercise

Sporting activities in those with ICDs Lampert and colleagues reported a prospective multi-national registry looking at the safety of sports for athletes with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in 2013.1 At the time of inception in 2006, the international (American Heart Association [AHA] and European Society of Cardiology [ESC]) recommendations were that billiards, bowling and golf were acceptable activities for such patient athletes. Concerns related to potential failure of the ICD to defibrillate due to metabolic, autonomic or potentially ischaemic changes during intense exercise, potential death or harm due to momentary loss

Introduction Cardiomyopathies (CM) are heart conditions that cause functional or structural abnormalities in the ventricular myocardium. They are not associated with coronary artery pathology, valvular heart disease, hypertension, or congenital heart disease.1 The disease presentation varies from asymptomatic individuals to those with abnormalities on investigation, syncope/presyncope symptoms, arrythmias, thromboembolic disease, or sudden cardiac death (SCD).1 Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common genetic cardiomyopathy, and the leading cause of SCD from cardiomyopathy, with a prevalence of 1:500.1 Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM

Introduction Physical activity and sports play a pivotal role in maintaining overall health and well-being, and as societies become increasingly sedentary, with an epidemic of obesity1,2 and type 2 diabetes3 in the western world, the medical profession seeks to promote meaningful exercise during daily life to maintain physical and mental health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that all adults engage in a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, per week.4 For many years, the causes of sudden death in young people have been under scrutiny, with those events particularly highlight

Dr Fang Qin Goh Introduction With semi-professional sporting events becoming more accessible,1 the effect of endurance training on the body is increasingly relevant, not just in elite athletes, but also fitness enthusiasts. Exercise prevents and aids treatment of coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, obesity and depression,2,3 reduces cardiac events,1 and improves survival.4,5 However, there is concern excessive exercise could have adverse cardiac effects.2 This article aims to address whether an upper limit to mortality benefits of exercise exists, consider physiological and potentially pathological ch

Introduction Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) predominantly results from genetic variants that affect cardiac sarcomeres. The result is a heterogeneous condition characterised by ventricular hypertrophy that cannot be explained by increased afterload (i.e. arterial hypertension, aortic stenosis). Various hypothesised mechanisms were potentially responsible for a perceived increased risk of arrhythmia during exercise in patients with HCM: dynamic left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) increasing left ventricular pressure and strain; sympathetic vagal imbalance; microvascular ischaemia and metabolic acidosis.1 Subsequent internatio

Professor John B Chambers Introduction Aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common type of primary heart valve disease in industrialised countries. Although echocardiography is key for its assessment, the need for surgery is most frequently dictated by symptoms.1 However, the history can be surprisingly elusive, and physicians without specialist competencies in valve disease may miss their onset.2 This is important because the risk of death is approximately 1% per annum without symptoms but 4% in the first three months after the onset of symptoms,3 usually before the patient has time to contact their physician (figure 1). It then rises up to 14%

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BSH Parliament day Professor Andrew Clark (President of the British Society for Heart Failure) is pictured here (centre) carrying out an echocardiogram in the House of Commons. He was at a BSH event to help raise awareness that a person diagnosed with heart failure is likely to have a worse prognosis than if they were diagnosed with most cancers. This is despite the availability of specialist heart failure services that can have a remarkable impact on a patient’s chance of survival, but for which there is inconsistent access over the UK leading to wide variations in care and outcomes. Over 60 MPs, Peers, and professional and patient groups

Caffeine intake may reduce risk of type 2 diabetes Coffee and caffeine intake may significantly reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes, according to a new meta-analysis published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  Pertinent studies were identified by a search of PubMed and EMBASE. The fixed- or random-effect pooled measure was selected based on between-study heterogeneity. Dose–response relationship was assessed. Commenting on the implications of this study (doi: 10.1007/s00394-013-0603-x), London general practitioner Dr Sarah Jarvis said: “There is growing evidence to suggest that moderate coffee consumption, that’s four

ESC backs regulations for medical devices The European Society of Cardiology has said in a position paper that it welcomes the European Commission’s (EC) proposals for a new Regulation to govern the evaluation and approval of medical devices in Europe as an important step towards improving patient safety. The EC proposal document is available at http://ec.europa.eu/health/medical-devices/documents/revision/index_en.htm New risk analysis scoring system A new risk scoring system, based on the SMART study, allows doctors to determine more accurately the risk of cardiovascular disease patients developing a new event, such as heart attack or str