Pay attention to heart safety when exercising in autumn and winter

Every year, there are many similar deaths caused by strenuous exercise such as running. College students suddenly die during physical examinations, players faint on the court, or runners suddenly fall to the ground during a marathon. These people may be "always in good health" and have good exercise habits, so why do they still die suddenly?

In fact, sudden death is not caused by exercise as a single factor, but there are many possible causes behind it.

● Long-term fatigue: When working overtime for a long time or being under high pressure, the body is relatively tired and the heart is relatively fragile. If you exercise rashly, it may increase the heart load and cause sudden death;

● Excessive collision during exercise: When the heart is beating rhythmically, it may induce sudden cardiac death syndrome;

● Viral cold: During a cold, the immune system is low. If you do strenuous exercise at this time, the heart may be "overwhelmed" and cause viral myocarditis, which may induce sudden death;

● Potential cardiovascular disease: For people under 50 years old, the main cause of sudden cardiac death is hereditary cardiovascular disease , such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, long QT syndrome, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, etc.; for people over 35 years old, coronary heart disease is the main cause of sudden cardiac death.

"Sport-related sudden death" often has signs. According to the "National Fitness Guide" issued by the General Administration of Sport of China in 2017, the maximum heart rate (beats/minute) of the normal population is 220-age (years). When the heart rate during exercise is greater than 85% of the maximum heart rate, it may enter a relatively dangerous heart rate range. In addition, if you experience chest tightness, palpitations, etc. during exercise; if you experience slow heartbeat, prolonged dizziness, etc. after exercise, you should pay attention to it and stop to rest in time or go to the hospital for treatment.

In short, there are traces of "sudden death during exercise", so preventive measures and reasonable exercise plans can be taken to reduce the risk of sudden death. In addition, the lower temperature in autumn and winter often leads to faster heartbeats and increased heart burden, so it is a high-incidence period for cardiovascular diseases. Before exercising in autumn and winter, in addition to fully warming up, you should also understand your heart condition to avoid adverse events.

Therefore, it is recommended that people who have exercise habits undergo regular physical examinations , especially before strenuous exercise, such as a marathon, to check the cardiovascular system and develop an exercise plan that suits them. However, for some early-stage diseases or highly hidden cardiovascular diseases, routine physical examinations are difficult to detect, so it is recommended to understand your risk of cardiovascular disease through genetic testing .

Genetic testing can assess the risk of disease at the genetic level, assist in diagnosis, early detection, early treatment, and guide the formulation of exercise plans. The European Society of Cardiology has also issued a position statement, clearly stating the use of genetic testing to assist in the diagnosis of athletes and indicate the risk of arrhythmia.

In addition, since most hereditary cardiovascular diseases are autosomal dominant diseases with familial clustering, genetic testing can also help screen high-risk relatives , predict relatives' disease risks in advance, and protect family health. Finally, genetic testing can also guide future eugenics and reduce the risk of disease in offspring through prenatal screening or preimplantation genetic testing (PGT).

Knowing this, I hope everyone can better understand their physical condition, stick to scientific exercise in addition to work, life and study, and have a healthy body.

Original article, no reproduction without authorization