Why athletes' blood tests can look like a heart attack even when they're fine
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.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
After a long bike race, many athletes' blood shows high levels of heart proteins — so high that doctors would normally think they had a heart attack. But they didn't. This happens more in women and with one test (hs-cTnT) than another (hs-cTnI).
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
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A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
After a long bike race, many athletes' blood shows high levels of heart proteins — so high that doctors would normally think they had a heart attack. But they didn't. This happens more in women and with one test (hs-cTnT) than another (hs-cTnI).
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 534 / 44
Evidence Score
A snapshot of a population at a single point in time. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine the direction of cause and effect.
Publication
Authors
Skadberg Ø, Kleiven Ø, Ørn S, Bjørkavoll-Bergseth MF, Melberg TH, Omland T, Aakre KM
Related Content
Claims (5)
High-volume endurance training is not associated with an increased incidence of acute myocardial infarction.
After riding a long bike race, people’s hearts release more of a protein called troponin, especially women, and this spike happens faster in some tests than others.
After a long bike race, most people’s blood tests show troponin levels high enough to be diagnosed as a heart attack—even though their hearts are actually fine.
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.
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.