Do marathon runners have healthier hearts?
Differences in coronary vasodilatory capacity and atherosclerosis in endurance athletes using coronary CTA and computational fluid dynamics (CFD): Comparison with a sedentary lifestyle.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Endurance athletes had significantly better vasodilatory response to nitroglycerin (V/M ratio 21.1 vs. 14.8) than sedentary individuals, who showed no such difference.
It’s counterintuitive that a drug’s effect would be stronger in athletes—most assume their arteries are already 'optimized' and wouldn’t respond more. This suggests training enhances vascular reactivity beyond just plaque reduction.
Practical Takeaways
If you're an endurance athlete, consider a coronary CTA if you have symptoms or family history—your plaque may be less dangerous, but blockages can still occur.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Endurance athletes had significantly better vasodilatory response to nitroglycerin (V/M ratio 21.1 vs. 14.8) than sedentary individuals, who showed no such difference.
It’s counterintuitive that a drug’s effect would be stronger in athletes—most assume their arteries are already 'optimized' and wouldn’t respond more. This suggests training enhances vascular reactivity beyond just plaque reduction.
Practical Takeaways
If you're an endurance athlete, consider a coronary CTA if you have symptoms or family history—your plaque may be less dangerous, but blockages can still occur.
Publication
Journal
European journal of radiology
Year
2020
Authors
G. Feuchtner, C. Langer, T. Senoner, F. Barbieri, C. Beyer, N. Bonaros, T. Schachner, G. Friedrich, B. Baldauf, Charles A. Taylor, A. Klauser, S. Rauch, J. Leipsic, W. Dichtl, G. Widmann, C. D. De Cecco, F. Plank
Related Content
Claims (6)
Chronic high-volume endurance exercise is associated with the development of calcified coronary artery plaque, which is biomechanically more stable and less prone to rupture than non-calcified or mixed plaque.
People who train hard and regularly for endurance sports are less likely to have dangerous, unstable plaque in their heart arteries that could suddenly cause a heart attack.
People who regularly do long, intense workouts like running or cycling tend to have less dangerous types of plaque buildup in their heart arteries than people who don't exercise much.
When given a medicine that opens up heart arteries, endurance athletes show a much bigger increase in artery space relative to heart muscle size than non-athletes, which might mean their arteries respond better to the drug.
Even though endurance athletes have less dangerous soft plaque, their amount of hard, calcified plaque in the heart arteries is about the same as in people who don’t exercise.