Apparent not great news for lonf distance cycling

davmol

I read the below and other similar articles on extreme distance cycling and its adverse effects on the heart.

http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/action/showFullTextImages?pii=S0025-6196%2812%2900473-9

Seems regular excessive distance cycling can have unfavourbale long term affects on heart health.

ford2600

davmol wrote: »

I read the below and other similar articles on extreme distance cycling and its adverse effects on the heart.

http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/action/showFullTextImages?pii=S0025-6196%2812%2900473-9

Seems regular excessive distance cycling can have unfavourbale long term affects on heart health.

Came across this during summer while looking for something else. Same Dr O'Keeffe.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/246366.php

tunney

I suspect that they majority of this board are more at risk from cholesterol related heart problems rather than over exercising ones.

ford2600

tunney wrote: »

I suspect that they majority of this board are more at risk from cholesterol related heart problems rather than over exercising ones.

The cholesterol that is in every cell of your body? That deadly dangerous stuff..

davmol

When youre dealing with Atrial fibulation,Heart scarring and irregular heart beats ,Cholesterol is preferable in my opinion.

Statins can lower cholesterol bad cholesterol ,not sure if defects due to heart rhythmn are reversible.

Scary stuff.

ford2600

davmol wrote: »

When youre dealing with Atrial fibulation,Heart scarring and irregular heart beats ,Cholesterol is preferable in my opinion.

Statins can lower cholesterol bad cholesterol ,not sure if defects due to heart rhythmn are reversible.

Scary stuff.

I wouldn't be too concerned if your not doing huge mileage. I've done a few audax events this year and maybe next year but I'd think long and hard about doing 1200km events and many other 10hr plus days in saddle every year.

I came across while reading into marathon running and the effects of many years of ultra endurance running.

It seems very early stage in research but there does seem to be enough there to be mindful of.

davmol

ford2600 wrote: »

I wouldn't be too concerned if your not doing huge mileage. I've done a few audax events this year and maybe next year but I'd think long and hard about doing 1200km events and many other 10hr plus days in saddle every year.

I came across while reading into marathon running and the effects of many years of ultra endurance running.

It seems very early stage in research but there does seem to be enough there to be mindful of.

Agreed.Ive read a good few reports similar to this.Im not trying to scare monger or distress anyone here just thought it was relevant info for some people who may be undertaking such distances.

On the studies done there was signifcant evidence to support heart damage on FREQUENT EXCESSIVE DISTANCE EVENTS not on the vast majority of leisure cyclists who enjoy the odd spin which may refer to readers on this site.

nilhg

This subject is of interest to me partly because I had a heart rhythm disturbance surgically corrected last Feb, but also because everyday you walk or cycle around our country it's possible to see the effects of lack of exercise on a big part of our population.

I wouldn't be too worried about that study, (personal, non medical opinion) I'd look at an article like this,

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2010/10/exercise-is-good-for-the-heart%E2%80%A6-but-is-there-a-limit/

and think that it puts a lot in context, especially if you read the follow up and the comments about training while sick, which does seem to be a possible heightened risk factor.

I came across this recently and while it doesn't deal directly with the subject matter here it might be relevant,

http://www.athletesheart.org/2014/12/in-the-news-cardiac-screening-for-adult-recreational-athletes/

Some small bit of screening would go a long way it seems.

Actually the whole Athletes Heart blog is a great start for anyone interested in this subject.

davmol

nilhg wrote: »

This subject is of interest to me partly because I had a heart rhythm disturbance surgically corrected last Feb, but also because everyday you walk or cycle around our country it's possible to see the effects of lack of exercise on a big part of our population.

I wouldn't be too worried about that study, (personal, non medical opinion) I'd look at an article like this,

QUOTE]

Personal opinion aside,if you look at the Medical graphs which show actual evidence of the troponin levels(measure of heart damage) after circa 5 hours(8 cycling) its quite disturbing reading to see how elevated base Troponin levels are after a long cycle.

Ole Rodrigo

Personal opinion aside,if you look at the Medical graphs which show actual evidence of the troponin levels(measure of heart damage) after circa 5 hours(8 cycling) its quite disturbing reading to see how elevated base Troponin levels are after a long cycle.

Surely this is a natural part of exercise - stress on muscular systems that repair and strengthen during rest ?

nilhg

davmol wrote: »

nilhg wrote: »

This subject is of interest to me partly because I had a heart rhythm disturbance surgically corrected last Feb, but also because everyday you walk or cycle around our country it's possible to see the effects of lack of exercise on a big part of our population.

I wouldn't be too worried about that study, (personal, non medical opinion) I'd look at an article like this,

QUOTE]

Personal opinion aside,if you look at the Medical graphs which show actual evidence of the troponin levels(measure of heart damage) after circa 5 hours(8 cycling) its quite disturbing reading to see how elevated base Troponin levels are after a long cycle.

And right over that graph it says this:

However, the significance of the elevated cardiac biomarkers after endurance efforts remains uncertain, and it has been argued that these may be entirely benign transient increases resulting from CV adaptations to long-term

As I said I'm only an interested bystander, but the one thing that seems clear is that exercise improves health across the population, the amount of people doing multiple marathons or the cycling equivalent is small enough in the general context and while it's important to take on the latest information, putting word out that exercise is bad is not really the way to be going (not that I'm saying you are doing that).

seamus

This was discussed at length on the running forum as well for obvious reasons.

The main thrust of it is that this is something which frequent endurance racers need to concern themselves with, and pretty much everyone else has little to worry about.

This is the kind of people who do frequent amounts of endurance racing with endurance training splattered in between. So the guy who runs 2 marathons a month during the summer along with his morning 20km run, and the cyclist who does 40 hours a week on the bike.

Casual endurance riders - the kind of people who might do 2 x 200km sportives a year aren't really at risk provided that they give themselves adequate rest time between events and don't string them out back-to-back.

Even at that, the damage is cumulative and generally requires the person to have been doing this kind of exercise over a prolonged period.

Unfortunately when the study came out, for some reason some people decided that this meant that doing endurance exercise was bad for you rather than take the understanding that too much exercise is not a good thing.
I suspect it was the same kind of idiot element who love to go on about white bread being evil and how you can eat 3,000kcal a day and lose weight, and why wouldn't you do crossfit and nothing else?

ford2600

Is there any reference to intensity of exercise?

I've felt really good after most 300km plus cycles this year, pace typically 24/25km(with execption of Priest's Leap when I probably shouldn't have done in hindsight) but suffered like a dog during and felt shook after a few fast 120-160km cycles.

Do former pro tour cyclist have higher rates of CVD than say non endurance elite athletes or even the general population?

davmol

nilhg wrote: »

davmol wrote: »

And right over that graph it says this:

However, the significance of the elevated cardiac biomarkers after endurance efforts remains uncertain, and it has been argued that these may be entirely benign transient increases resulting from CV adaptations to long-term

As I said I'm only an interested bystander, but the one thing that seems clear is that exercise improves health across the population, the amount of people doing multiple marathons or the cycling equivalent is small enough in the general context and while it's important to take on the latest information, putting word out that exercise is bad is not really the way to be going (not that I'm saying you are doing that).

As i specifically stated above ,this is for excesive prolonged exposure to long distance events of which the vast majority on this site would be nowhere near.

smacl

ford2600 wrote: »

I wouldn't be too concerned if your not doing huge mileage. I've done a few audax events this year and maybe next year but I'd think long and hard about doing 1200km events and many other 10hr plus days in saddle every year.

I came across while reading into marathon running and the effects of many years of ultra endurance running.

It seems very early stage in research but there does seem to be enough there to be mindful of.

It would be interesting to know whether long spins at a more relaxed pace would fall into this category. I'd do reasonably regular 8 hour plus spins, but always at a comfortable pace. I wonder is the principal concern related to extended periods of time at more elevated heart rates, more consistent with racing than rambling?

darkvalley

I wonder about the intensity of the effort also. I have done several 200km spins this year and am planning on audaxing this year coming. At very few stages during a cycle would I have a very elevated heart rate, I cycle well within myself on these long spins. Would this be seen as risky? Was hoping to do at least one 200km spin a month and a 300 and 400 at some stage this year.

jinkypolly

davmol wrote: »

I read the below and other similar articles on extreme distance cycling and its adverse effects on the heart.

http://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/action/showFullTextImages?pii=S0025-6196%2812%2900473-9

Seems regular excessive distance cycling can have unfavourbale long term affects on heart health.

Well that's not quite what the study says.

A routine of regular exercise is highly effective for prevention and treatment of many common chronic diseases and improves cardiovascular (CV) health and longevity. However, long-term excessive endurance exercise may induce pathologic structural remodeling of the heart and large arteries. Emerging data suggest that chronic training for and competing in extreme endurance events such as marathons, ultramarathons, ironman distance triathlons, and very long distance bicycle races, can cause transient acute volume overload of the atria and right ventricle, with transient reductions in right ventricular ejection fraction and elevations of cardiac biomarkers, all of which return to normal within 1 week. Over months to years of repetitive injury, this process, in some individuals, may lead to patchy myocardial fibrosis, particularly in the atria, interventricular septum, and right ventricle, creating a substrate for atrial and ventricular arrhythmias. Additionally, long-term excessive sustained exercise may be associated with coronary artery calcification, diastolic dysfunction, and large-artery wall stiffening. However, this concept is still hypothetical and there is some inconsistency in the reported findings. Furthermore, lifelong vigorous exercisers generally have low mortality rates and excellent functional capacity. Notwithstanding, the hypothesis that long-term excessive endurance exercise may induce adverse CV remodeling warrants further investigation to identify at-risk individuals and formulate physical fitness regimens for conferring optimal CV health and longevity.

DaithiMC

ford2600 wrote: »

Is there any reference to intensity of exercise?

I've felt really good after most 300km plus cycles this year, pace typically 24/25km(with execption of Priest's Leap when I probably shouldn't have done in hindsight) but suffered like a dog during and felt shook after a few fast 120-160km cycles.

Do former pro tour cyclist have higher rates of CVD than say non endurance elite athletes or even the general population?

Athlete's Heart Syndrome is documented and I did read some publications relating this to a higher degree of fibrotic muscle tissue later in life..... though no statistics on your question about pro cyclists.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_heart_syndrome#Clinical_relevance