Do marathon runners get more heart plaque?
Prevalence of Subclinical Coronary Artery Disease in Masters Endurance Athletes With a Low Atherosclerotic Risk Profile
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Some older men who ran marathons for decades have more hard, calcified plaque in their heart arteries than men who don't exercise much — but it's not the kind that usually causes heart attacks.
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 556 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Some older men who ran marathons for decades have more hard, calcified plaque in their heart arteries than men who don't exercise much — but it's not the kind that usually causes heart attacks.
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 556 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Publication
Authors
Merghani A, Maestrini V, Rosmini S, Cox AT, Dhutia H, Bastiaenan R, David S, Yeo TJ, Narain R, Malhotra A, Papadakis M, Wilson MG, Tome M, AlFakih K, Moon JC, Sharma S
Related Content
Claims (4)
The plaque buildup in endurance athletes is mostly hard, chalky calcium, while in non-athletes it’s softer and greasier—this might make athlete plaques less likely to suddenly break and cause heart attacks.
The longer a man has trained for marathons, the more likely he is to have serious artery blockages—even if he’s otherwise healthy, with no high cholesterol or blood pressure.
Men who have trained for decades in marathons and endurance sports are more likely to have calcium deposits in their heart arteries than men who don't exercise much—even if they're otherwise healthy and have no heart disease risk factors.
Some lifelong endurance athletes have scar tissue in their heart muscle—like from a silent heart attack—even though they never had chest pain, and none of the sedentary men in the study had this.