A study recently published in the European Heart Journal finds that there is such a thing as too much exercise.
High level athletes who are involved in endurance sports may be pushing their bodies hard enough to damage their hearts.
These athletes engage in years of heavy duty exercise which may weaken the heart muscle, leading to a rare, but deadly disease, ventricular arrhythmia, which causes the heart to beat erratically.
In a sense, there may be a limit to how much exercise a heart can tolerate before being damaged.
High levels of prolonged physical stress can damage the right ventricle of the heart, leading to heart disturbances, especially in young male athletes.
While ventricular arrhythmia is rare, all athletes should be aware of its warning signs, which include sudden shortness of breath while exercising or brief blackouts.
This type of heart damage is likely irreversible. When it occurs, high level athletes may need to give up their competitive sports to reduce stress on the heart.
While too much exercise can be too much, some exercise is still recommended. If you already exercise and want to make it more interesting, check out this program. It’s the same ones Hollywood celebrities use to stay motivated:
A new study identifies that tanning may be an addictive behavior, similar to an addiction to drugs or alcohol.
This has important implications for education about sun-safety. If tanners are truly addicted to tanning, messages like, “don’t tan” are not going to be that effective.
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Scientists at Harvard Medical School are studying a naturally occuring compound, resveratrol, for its possible benefits to weight loss, improved health, and anti-aging.
Resveratrol is found in nuts, wine, and grapes. At high doses, it has been found to prolong life spans and improve health- so far, just in mice, though human clinical trials are underway.
Mice who ingested a high fat, high calorie diet and then were given resveratrol were found to live longer than mice who ate the same diet, but were not given the resveratrol doses. In a separate study, mice given the compound lost weight, boosted their metabolism, and doubled their endurance in physical activity.
Funded in part by the National Institute on Aging, this study was published in the prestigious journals Nature and Cell in late 2006. Consumers have been snapping up bottles of resveratrol ever since; though researchers caution more data is needed to determine if high doses of resveratrol may cause damage humans.
