Introduction
Exercise is commonly associated with decreased risks of cardiovascular diseases and higher quality of life. It is often recommended for patients with specific heart problems, such as stable heart failure. Through echocardiography, doctors may uncover various data on their patients’ heart conditions and problems. With the help of five scholarly sources, the following text aims at a detailed explanation of its effects demonstrated through using echocardiography.
Review
The Effects of Exercise Training on Cardiac Structure and Function and Cardiovascular Risk Profile
This article discusses how exercise affects patients with cardiovascular disease using cardiovascular imaging findings. In this study, researchers use echocardiography to study the effects of exercise on left ventricular function. In addition to patients with cardiovascular problems, the article focuses on people who are at risk for such conditions due to various health problems such as cancer, heart attack, and heart failure. According to Alhumaid, “researchers are also using Doppler ultrasound as a means of reviewing the significant impact on vascular health and function of the patients studied” (Alhumaid et al., 2022, p. 9). This study is critical because it helps assess vascular, cardiometabolic, and cardiac health and may provide an opportunity to reduce adverse health risks in the aforementioned patient groups.
Cardiovascular Neural Regulation in Amateur Triathletes
This source examines the effects of 12 weeks of aerobic exercise on echocardiographic epicardial adipose tissue thickness, body composition, and other characteristics found in overweight adults without any symptoms. This is relevant because it is a fairly appropriate measure of visceral adipose tissue in the human body and can be used to diagnose metabolic syndrome. For this study, 170 overweight individuals underwent a 12-week exercise program with and without observation (Dalla Vecchia et al., 2019). In addition to assessing lipids, body fat percentage, visceral fat levels, fasting blood sugar, and C-reactive protein, patients underwent echocardiography to measure epicardial adipose tissue thickness. This study is significant because it provides evidence for the effects of aerobic exercise on reducing EEATT (Everything Everywhere All The Time) among mildly obese and overweight people (Alhumaid et al., 2022).
The source examines the effects of extremely strenuous exercise on cardiovascular neural regulation by observing amateur triathletes compared with age-matched sedentary control groups. The following study is significant because it emphasizes the importance of maintaining an appropriate amount of physical activity without making it overly strenuous for the individual.
Effect of Echocardiographic Epicardial Adipose Tissue Thickness on Success Rates of Premature Ventricular Contraction Ablation
The third source used describe such aspects as epicardial adipose tissue thickness, and its effects on patients with heart failure, and cancer with high risks of cardiovascular complications. Different kinds of exercise such as cycling, walking, and weight lifting are famous for multiple benefits, such as a positive effect on blood pressure, cardiac function, and vascular inflammation (Coates et al., 2021). Said benefits are why it became a crucial part of medical guidelines and rehabilitation of patients with the aforementioned conditions. Echocardiography is one of the best means of reviewing the effects, as it is one of the safest procedures that can be performed multiple times, provides accurate information, and is quite versatile.
Before depicting the effects of exercise on people with various health conditions, it is crucial to understand how it influences the condition of healthy people. The general recommendation regarding exercise involves more than an hour and a half of aerobic exercises of average difficulty and intensity or an hour and 15 minutes if the intensity is more significant (Ness et al., 2022). The data regarding the effect of exercises on athletes is not specific enough, although they are undeniably more trained than an average person. The aforementioned uncertainty implies that more studies are required to review how it influences the condition of those individuals compared to ordinary people and add more detailed information regarding the matter.
Exercise Alters Cardiac Function Independent of Acute Systemic Inflammation in Healthy Men
The fourth source represents an experimental investigation sought to determine the role of inflammation on the occurrence of cardiovascular alterations following exercise. Despite successfully stimulating systemic inflammation via vaccination, vascular and cardiac functions were largely unaltered. Prolonged exercise itself reduced cardiac function assessed via echocardiography performed during light exercise stress (Dalla Vecchia et al., 2019). In the works of Kanat et al., the authors mention that “epicardial adipose tissue thickness is higher in patients with premature ventricular contraction ablation failure, which may be indicative of procedural success” (Kanat et al., 2019, p. 3). This demonstrates a potential advantage to using stress-echocardiography for measuring exercise-induced cardiac fatigue, as typical resting measures following similar exercise exposures commonly suggest no effect.
Acute Effects of High-Intensity Training on Cardiac Function
The fifth source is regarding cardiac response to exercise, both in individuals with T2D and other individuals with a predisposition for ischemic heart disease. The present study aimed to investigate the response to cardiac function and volume, biomarkers of cardiac stress as well as arrhythmias following one session of high-intensity exhaustive exercise in patients with T2D compared to healthy individuals (Ness et al., 2022, p. 2-3). We hypothesized that acute exercise training could provoke greater cardiac stress in patients with T2D compared to healthy individuals (Kanat et al., 2019). For both groups, we expected to find elevated levels of TnT as well as indications of impaired cardiac function following exhaustive exercise, with potentially more prominent findings in the RV.
Conclusion
The five implemented sources have provided the opportunity to review how exercise affects the heart among healthy, overweight, diabetic individuals and athletes. Some of the aspects, such as the effect of exercise on the heart among athletes, need to be more thoroughly reviewed in the future to later differentiate between its influence on that of ordinary individuals and athletes. This suggests that exercise is also greatly influenced by man himself and his natural characteristics. It is not always necessary to start from only one input data, but also to analyze other nuances that influence the overall result.
References
Alhumaid, W., Small, S. D., Kirkham, A. A., Becher, H., Pituskin, E., Prado, C. M., Thompson, R. B., Haykowsky, M. J., & Paterson, D. I. (2022). A contemporary review of the effects of exercise training on cardiac structure and function and cardiovascular risk profile: Insights from imaging. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 9. Web.
Coates, A. M., Petrick, H. L., Millar, P. J., & Burr, J. F. (2021). Exercise alters cardiac function independent of acute systemic inflammation in healthy men. American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 320(5), H1762-H1773. Web.
Dalla Vecchia, L. A., Barbic, F., De Maria, B., Cozzolino, D., Gatti, R., Dipaola, F., Brunetta, E., Zamuner, A. R., Porta, A., & Furlan, R. (2019). Can strenuous exercise harm the heart? Insights from a study of cardiovascular neural regulation in amateur triathletes. PLOS ONE, 14(5), e0216567. Web.
Kanat, S., Duran Karaduman, B., Tütüncü, A., Tenekecioğlu, E., Mutluer, F. O., & Akar Bayram, N. (2019). Effect of Echocardiographic Epicardial Adipose Tissue Thickness on Success Rates of Premature Ventricular Contraction Ablation. Balkan Medical Journal. Web.
Ness, H. O., Ljones, K., Gjelsvik, R. H., Tjønna, A. E., Malmo, V., Nilsen, H. O., Hollekim-Strand, S. M., Dalen, H., & Høydal, M. A. (2022). Acute effects of high-intensity training on cardiac function – A pilot study comparing subjects with type 2 diabetes to healthy controls. Scientific Reports, 12(8239). Web.