The blood tests used to diagnose heart attacks can’t tell the difference between a healthy athlete’s post-race troponin spike and a real heart attack.

Pro

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Community contributions welcome

The cardiac troponin response following physical exercise in relation to biomarker criteria for acute myocardial infarction; the North Sea Race Endurance Exercise Study (NEEDED) 2013.

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2018 Apr

Contradicting (0)

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

The cardiac troponin response following physical exercise in relation to biomarker criteria for acute myocardial infarction; the North Sea Race Endurance Exercise Study (NEEDED) 2013.

Score: 34

DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2018.01.033

Similar Assertions

After a long bike ride, the troponin T blood test is more likely to show a heart attack signal than the troponin I test—even when the heart is healthy.

81%

Beginner runners still show signs of heart stress a day after a marathon, but experienced runners’ hearts look normal again by then.

74%

Experienced runners have less heart cell damage after a marathon than beginners, even though everyone’s heart gets stressed.

73%