Researchers in a new study have found a link between exercising at a high level and heart disease.
Research by UT Southwestern Medical Center found a surprising result that shows that exercising a lot for a long period of time may not necessarily protect arteries from coronary artery calcium (CAC).
The researches published in JAMA Cardiology and the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology provides detailed insights about heart disease and extreme physical exercise.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, as it kills a person every 33 seconds.
Benjamin Levine, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study, said, “For optimal health over a lifetime, exercise needs to be part of your personal hygiene. These two studies help define how exercise can affect coronary artery calcium.”
The study also showed that athletes who are involved in high-level physical activities like marathons are more likely to have higher CAC scores.
Levine explained, “CAC doesn’t cause heart disease itself; rather, it shows up in medical imaging as a marker of plaque buildup in the heart’s major blood vessels. When this plaque ruptures, it can block blood flow to the heart, causing a heart attack.“
