How to Reduce the Risk of Cardiac Events During Exercise

heart attack during exercise

Have you ever heard the news that a man had a heart attack while exercising and was saved by cardiac massage? As a cardiologist, I often had patients brought in to the hospital after suffering a heart attack while exercising. The main diseases are myocardial infarction and arrhythmia other than myocardial infarction.¹。

Myocardial infarction during exercise

Myocardial infarction is a disease in which cholesterol builds up in the three blood vessels that carry arterial blood to supply oxygen to the heart, eventually forming blood clots that suddenly become clogged. Characteristic symptoms include tightness and pain in the chest when walking or lifting heavy objects in daily life, and pain that radiates to the neck and jaw. It would be good if the symptoms could be detected through light exercise, but unfortunately, there are no signs at all and the symptoms suddenly develop during exercise, leading to cardiac arrest in the worst case scenario.

However, there was a case where a triathlete in his 40s showed no symptoms during intense pre-competition practice, and after swimming and cycling, he suffered a cardiac arrest during the final jog, suffered a myocardial infarction, and was taken to the hospital.². We are reporting a case.

To prevent heart accidents during exercise

There are some diseases that can be detected in advance by testing before exercising. However, due to the low frequency of the disease, there is no established scientific evidence to test athletes in large-scale studies to reduce the incidence of cardiac events during exercise. However, if you are a lifestyle-related disease patient who has never exercised before, why not start exercising without any tests? Diabetic patients, in particular, may have no symptoms even if they have angina. Additionally, some people who exercise have a condition called cardiomyopathy that obscures the shape of their heart. If you are starting to exercise or continue to exercise, I think it would be a good idea to consider getting tested at least once.

Also, it seems that the place and environment where you exercise is important. It is also important to have a system that allows people to respond to someone who suddenly collapses (BLS-provider), AED, and emergency services (EMS), and an environment that allows for contact.

Summary

If you have symptoms such as chest pain when exercising, or if you have cardiomyopathy or arrhythmia, we may be able to test whether you are at high risk in advance.
Exercise has a positive effect on controlling lifestyle-related diseases, but it is not safe orSafety We need to create an environment where this can happen.

References

1. Wasfy, M. M., Hutter, A. M., & Weiner, R. B. (2016). Sudden Cardiac Death in Athletes. Methodist DeBakey Cardiovascular Journal, 12(2), 76–80.
2. Yamaguchi, S., & Shimabukuro, M. (2022). Acute Myocardial Infarction During the Last Part of a Triathlon: A Case Report. Cureus, 14(12), e32768.