Why would athletes be at risk for circulation damage? Doesn’t exercise help the heart? Exercise does help treat and prevent circulation damage, to a point. Beyond a certain point, exercise damages the heart. There are many reasons why circulation damage occurs and it is not commonly suspected in athletes, children, teens or young adults. I commonly find and treat circulation damage in all ages.
All diseases and health problems have a sequence of underlying problems, which can be easily identified in appointments with focused questioning, exams and testing. This sequence includes treatable circulation problems that start in childhood. The sequence also includes physical problems (how much sleep you get, how you handle stress), infections, immune problems, genetic problems (that run in your family) and your nutritional intake (what you eat and drink).
I find my colleagues and patients do not often consider these problems are present or do not evaluate and treat in a comprehensive or holistic fashion:
- Circulation problems are found by asking questions, doing exams and then ordering tests or starting treatments and seeing improvements. See details below.
- Physical problems are found by asking questions.
- Infections are found by asking questions, then doing tests (for low grade viral, mycoplasma or other infections) or starting treatments and seeing improvements.
- Immune problems are found by asking questions and ordering lab tests (cholesterol levels, glucose levels, CRP, white cell, fibrinogen and other tests) or starting treatments and seeing improvements.
- Genetic problems are found by asking questions about family history. No one dies of “old age”. Closer questioning reveals genetic risks because most family members suffer from or die from heart disease or strokes. Your genetic risks are potentially accelerated by untreated circulation, physical, infectious, immune and nutritional problems.
- Nutritional problems are found by asking questions, reviewing food intake, testing glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol, counseling people and helping them consume healthier foods or ordering specialized nutritional tests.
The European Heart Journal (December 6, 2011) reported on exercise-induced right ventricular dysfunction and structural remodeling (heart damage) in endurance athletes. Let me put this into more understandable terms. Endurance training means any long term high level cardiovascular exercise. I know these findings well, because I was an endurance athlete in my 20’s and 30’s, regularly running, playing racquetball, skiing, hiking and climbing. Little did I know it damaged my heart – I always had a slow heart rate but developed more significant problems in my 40’s. I’m doing well know with natural treatments and still exercising.
Endurance exercise may be associated with cardiac remodeling (changes and damage in the right heart) associated with slow, fast or irregular heart rhythms. Athletes in the European studies were evaluated before exercise, after an endurance sport and one week later. Tests included:
- Troponin
- BNP (B type naturetic peptide)
- Echocardiogram (cardiac ultrasound or “echo”)
- Cardiac MRI (not available outside research yet), so I would add:
- Electrocardiogram (ECG)
- CRP or cardiac C reactive protein
- Standard blood chemistry (white and red cells, kidney functions, glucose, cholesterol, fibrinogen, others)
- Viral and mycoplasma blood tests (since these common infections are common causes of left or right heart enlargement)
- CardioRisk artery scan of the carotid artery. Abnormal results correlate up to 96% similar damage to the coronary arteries
European study athletes displayed right heart enlargement, fibrosis (scarring) in the heart and decreases in heart functions with chronic long term changes in some of the most experienced athletes, using just the first four tests. The damage is cumulative in many cases. In my experience, patients who do more complete testing (all 8 tests listed above) almost always have treatable left and right heart damage, along with arteriosclerosis.
Getting a thorough echocardiogram done and reviewed thoughtfully is challenging. There are four heart valves, four heart chambers, pressure and functional measures necessary to make a diagnosis and manage heart damage, especially in the early phases. I have only found one facility that does thorough echocardiograms in our region. In addition, most practitioners will think damage in the valves, chamber, pressure or functional capacity in normal or “mild”, not realizing that damage in cumulative in most cases. I always recommend preventative and therapeutic treatments whenever there are any abnormalities on the echocardiogram.
The same problems exist with electrocardiograms (ECG). Most practitioners review the ECG for an acute heart attack and overlook early damage. I always recommend preventative and therapeutic treatments whenever there are any abnormalities on the ECG.
My goal is to diagnose and treat circulation damage before heart disease or stroke occurs. When test results are abnormal, we start preventative treatments with lifestyle changes, supplements and cardiac drugs as needed, but drugs may cause side effects – including decreased exercise performance – that’s why I use supplements and other natural treatments.
If you exercise regularly or know someone who does, encourage them to have a thorough evaluation. If any of the factors listed above are abnormal, preventative measures are warranted. For more information, please visit my website and read Kids’ Heart Health Is Faulty and “Sports Physicals”, Part 1 & 2.
David Overton, PA-C works at Natural Medicines & Family Practice combining conventional and alternative treatments under the supervision of Dr. Richard Faiola, MD, ABFM. 360-357-8054.
