With systematic training, blood circulation changes to ensure the body's adaptability. The load on the muscle increases, as a result of which the heart enlarges. With a decrease in loads, the physiological increase is reversible, but in a pathological state, the process of natural changes in the myocardium is disturbed. This is how sinus bradycardia occurs.
Maximum heart can increase in athletes who go in for skiing, athletes, cyclists, skaters. Players in team sports, swimmers experience less stress. Weightlifting has practically no effect on the myocardium. Professional weightlifters have slightly enlarged hearts compared to he althy non-professionals.
Bradycardia: an overview of the disease
Bradycardia is a type of arrhythmia in which the rate of contractions is less than sixty beats per minute. ProfessionalFor athletes, this condition can be considered as a norm, but more often indicates a pathology of the cardiovascular system. Severe bradycardia (less than forty beats per minute) leads to failure, as a result of which the patient may need a pacemaker.
Pathology occurs as a result of changes of a negative kind in the conductive system, due to which the transmission of momentum is disrupted. The causes of bradycardia are organic changes in the heart (myocarditis, atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, ischemic disease, scarring after a heart attack). Hormonal balance, the autonomic nervous system, infectious diseases affect the heart rate.
Athlete's Heart Syndrome
The high level of achievements in sports makes exceptional demands on the he alth of athletes. One of the conditions is strict consideration of individual anatomical, physiological and age characteristics. With increasing load, positive changes occur in the cardiovascular system. With an incorrectly constructed training process, pathology can occur.
In certain sports, where the requirements for oxygen transport are especially high, the athlete's training comes down to training the heart itself. Usually, athletes have an enlarged heart, more efficient, better provides oxygen transport. Cardiac bradycardia in athletes in most cases is a variant of the norm, but there are also pathological cases.
If the heart increases intensively or ceases to provide the body with the necessary amount of oxygen, then pathology develops. This situation is characterized by a low frequency of contractions, replacement of fibers with ordinary connective tissue, muscle hypertrophy, weak muscle contractility, changes in rhythm and conduction.
Mechanism of development of bradycardia
Physiological bradycardia in athletes occurs due to constant training, during which the muscle fibers of the heart thicken and require a more intense supply of oxygen. The increased work of the heart is compensated by an increase in the rhythm, that is, tachycardia. With thickening of the muscle, a compensatory network of vessels further develops, which is able to supply the heart with blood even under heavy loads.
After such changes, an increase in the heart rate does not occur, but sinus bradycardia develops in an athlete (child or adult) - a decrease in heart rate. The heart moves to more rare, but powerful contractions. With an increase in load, the pulse quickens by two to five times, and after a decrease it returns to normal. A heart that works in this mode is called physiologically athletic.
Types of bradycardia in athletes
Let's consider this state in more detail. Cardiac bradycardia in children (athletes) and adults who are professionally involved in sports is physiological if the heart fully ensures normal functioning and supplies everythingorgans with oxygen. It becomes possible for the heart muscle to work in an economical mode: bradycardia during the rest period and increased performance during physical exertion.
Sinus bradycardia in athletes with a significant increase in heart size can lead to the development of the disease. In this case, there is a risk of complications, and the athlete should be under the supervision of a cardiologist. The development of pathology can be suspected if the process of slowing down and increasing the heart rate proceeds spasmodically. In children, bradycardia can be caused not only by large sports loads, but also by age-related changes. In this case, bradycardia is usually reversible.
Pathological bradycardia in adolescent athletes leads to a lack of oxygen and poor blood circulation. Oxygen starvation can lead to heart failure and microinfarction. With pathology, cardiosclerosis and atrophy of muscle fibers can develop. The work of the heart is deteriorating sharply.
At the same time, the athlete's body does not adapt well to physical exertion, the person sleeps poorly, gets tired quickly, and efficiency decreases. The limiting value of bradycardia in trained athletes is forty beats per minute. A patient with similar pulse rates should be constantly monitored by a specialist.
Pathological bradycardia: symptoms
With bradycardia in a child athlete, you need to pay attention to the presence of a clinical picture. Point out that the heart can not cope withtheir tasks may cause nausea, dizziness, weakness. The constant feeling of drowsiness, frequent headaches, panic conditions should alert. The brain is especially sensitive to a lack of oxygen. Limited blood supply can lead to fainting. In this case, you need to reduce the load and contact a cardiologist.
Danger of pathological bradycardia
Uncontrolled bradycardia in an athlete is dangerous because it leads to the development of changes in the structure of the muscle. The functionality of the heart decreases, some areas may be prone to heart attack or ischemia. Non-functional fibers are replaced by scarred connective tissue. Impulses do not pass through this tissue, which leads to arrhythmia. This condition requires urgent lifestyle changes.
A person who is professionally involved in sports needs regular examinations of the state of the heart and blood vessels. Athletes are at an increased risk for the occurrence of cardiac pathologies. Particular attention should be paid to children. Adolescents, for example, often end up in the hospital because the pathological condition may not be immediately noticed.
Treatment of bradycardia
Moderate forms of bradycardia that are not accompanied by symptoms do not require special treatment. A cardiologist may recommend taking belladonna tinctures or preparations, eleutherococcus extract, caffeine, ginseng root in individually selected dosages. When a pathology is detectedwith the development of arterial hypotension, angina pectoris, syncope, ventricular arrhythmias and heart failure, active treatment is necessary. As a rule, cardiac drugs are prescribed. In severe cases, consultation with a cardiac surgeon is necessary. Athletes rarely require pacemaker implantation, but complications should not be completely ruled out.
Is physical activity acceptable?
If an athlete is diagnosed with bradycardia, the intensity of training should be reduced. In some cases, you have to completely abandon sports loads for a while, and then adjust the training program in the future. In any sport, you need to choose physical activity: high (skiing or cycling, running), medium (hockey, football, wrestling, basketball), low (swimming, gymnastics, sports dancing).
It is important to correctly assess the general he alth of a person, his ability in sports and the adequacy of the load. With pathological bradycardia caused by heart disease, for example, professional sports are generally life-threatening, but regular moderate physical activity will only benefit.
Physical exercises should be varied, you need long walks in the fresh air, water procedures, hardening (gentle dousing, air and sunbaths) will not hurt. In gymnastics, exercises in which the head is lower than the legs, body flips are contraindicated. All questions related to acceptable physical activity need to be clarifiedat the attending physician.
Prediction and prevention of bradycardia
Organic lesions of the heart adversely affect the prognosis of the course of bradycardia. In the most severe cases, it is necessary to resolve the issue of installing a pacemaker. Against the background of a persistent decrease in heart rate, the patient may become disabled. With physiological bradycardia or a moderate nature of the pathology, the prognosis is favorable. Timely and adequate selection of dosages of medicines, elimination of negative effects on the myocardium and organic lesions, as well as reasonable sports training will help prevent the development of cardiac diseases.
