PMID: 2496344Mar 1, 1989Paper

Heart size and function of soldiers, athletes, and sedentary men

Military Medicine
B J RubalA R Al-Muhailani

Abstract

This study compares the heart sizes and left ventricular masses of soldiers (n = 11) with age- and body size-matched groups of sedentary men (n = 10) and accomplished athletes (n = 11). Echocardiography revealed that active duty soldiers (A) who met minimal fitness standards and pentathletes (P) had greater average left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic volumes (A = 10%, NS; P = 28%, p less than 0.05), stroke volumes (A = 29%, NS; P = 44%, p less than 0.01), and LV masses (A = 22%, NS; P = 76%, p less than 0.01) than sedentary subjects. Athletes had an average LV wall thickness which was 23% (p less than 0.05) greater than that of soldiers and 32% (p less than 0.01) greater than that of sedentary men. The LV wall thickness to radius ratio (h/r) was similar between soldiers and sedentary men, but in athletes the h/r was greater (p less than 0.01) than in the less conditioned subjects. These data suggest that soldiers who meet minimal standards of fitness exhibit cardiac morphometric features consistent with endurance conditioning. However, the soldiers studied were significantly less (p less than 0.001) conditioned than the competitive athletes. These data suggest that improvements in aerobic and cardiac conditioning could be achie...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Cardiovascular Diseases: Risk Factors

Cardiovascular disease is a significant health concern. Risk factors include hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia and smoking. Women who are postmenopausal are at an increased risk of heart disease. Here is the latest research for risk factors of cardiovascular disease.