Sports & Performance Cardiology

General Cardiology:

General cardiology provides a broad spectrum of cardiac care, including the diagnosis and treatment of diverse cardiovascular issues regardless of an individual’s activity level. General cardiology providers are focused on conditions like heart failure, coronary artery disease, and hypertension, providing comprehensive cardiac care for the general population.

Sports Cardiology:

Sports cardiology, on the other hand, specializes in the cardiovascular health of individuals of all ages engaged in physical activity and sport. This discipline is concerned with the unique demands placed on the heart during exercise and athletics. Sports cardiologists conduct targeted assessments, considering factors such as an athlete’s fitness level, training intensity, and sport-specific requirements. The focus is on optimizing cardiac risk factors, cardiac health and managing cardiovascular disease in those who want to pursue regular exercise. Athletes may not have typical symptoms of heart disease and often feel that their heart health concerns are dismissed in traditional healthcare settings because of their athlete status. This would not be the case with a sports cardiologist.

While general cardiology caters to a wide range of cardiac concerns for the general population, sports cardiology tailors its approach to the distinctive needs of individuals involved in regular physical exertion and sports. Both contribute significantly to overall heart health but with differing scopes and emphasis.

Sports cardiology services are particularly beneficial for individuals routinely engaged in physical activities and sports. Whether you are an amateur or professional athlete, sports cardiology can provide specialized support to assess your symptoms (which may not be well understood by those not routinely seeing athletes), treat your heart disease and work with you to optimize your cardiovascular health.

This specialized field caters to those seeking to optimize their cardiovascular health in the context of regular exercise, intense training, and the specific demands of their sports. Whether you’re a dedicated athlete, a fitness enthusiast, or someone engaging in regular physical activity, sports cardiology can provide tailored assessments and guidance to ensure your heart can withstand the rigors of your chosen activities while minimizing potential risks.

Sports cardiology services can provide significant benefits for individuals from amateurs to professionals who are actively involved in intense physical activity and sport. Active people and athletes are not immune from heart disease. Vigorous exercise may trigger cardiovascular symptoms (heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, passing out) and/or events (heart attack or cardiac arrest) in susceptible individuals.

Exercise-induced arrhythmias are a condition characterized by irregular heart rhythms that occur during or after strenuous exercise. These need to be thoroughly investigated and a sports cardiologist can provide tailored stress testing and monitoring for this.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a genetic heart condition that leads to abnormal thickening of the heart muscle, which can affect an athlete’s ability to engage in intense physical activities. It requires careful assessment, risk stratification and monitoring to ensure optimal cardiac safety.

Some athletes develop “athlete’s heart” or exercise-induced cardiac remodeling, which is an enlarged heart as a result of physiological adaptation to intense physical training. Athlete’s heart can often be mistaken for other heart problems. An accurate diagnosis and management is critical and a sports cardiologist is well equipped to differentiate health athletic related heart changes to those from heart disease.

For most people, moderate, regular exercise is beneficial for heart health. However, it is important for people to adapt their physical activity to their individual level of fitness along with consulting with healthcare professionals, including sports cardiologists. Doing this helps ensure a safe and long-term approach to routine and intense physical activity, from amateurs to professional athletes.

When doing intense physical activities, the heart is impacted in a variety of ways:

Pumps more blood: During intense physical activity, the heart pumps more blood to the muscles to provide more oxygen and nutrients required to keep going.

Stronger heart: since the heart is literally a muscle, it adapts in response to routine, intense physical activity. In effect, it becomes more efficient at pumping blood to the body’s tissues and organs with the needed oxygen and nutrients needed.

Lower resting heart rate: Routine intense activity can help your heart beat slower when you are not working out. A lower resting heart rate is generally considered beneficial, since it reflects the heart’s ability to more efficiently pump blood.

Improved heart structure: Regular, intense physical activity can actually cause the heart to get a little bigger because of structural changes that occur to help the heart accommodate the hard work during intense exercising.

Better blood pressure: routine physical activity can help keep blood pressure in a healthy range. This is beneficial for the blood vessels and also reduces the risk of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, which is important for a healthy heart.

VO2 max: Vigorous exercise can increase your VO2 max. VO2 max, or maximal oxygen uptake, refers to the maximum amount of oxygen that an individual can utilize during intense or maximal exercise. VO2 max is a strong predictor of longevity. We know that fitter people live longer.