AuntMinnieTV: Cardiac MRI detects heart changes in older athletes

Dear AuntMinnie Member,

Long-distance running is generally considered to be a healthy activity. But enough runners have dropped dead from heart attacks -- such as the one that felled running guru Jim Fixx in 1984 -- to prompt medical researchers to look into the possible relationship between exercise and cardiac events.

Researchers from Germany chased down this topic with a study that employed cardiac MRI to examine the hearts of older marathon runners. Their goal was to determine if there was a way to screen asymptomatic runners and assess whether they might be at risk of a cardiac event due to strenuous exercise.

The results were surprising. As you might expect, the study population had on average half the risk score for a future cardiac event as the general population. But over a third of the runners also had a coronary artery calcium score above 100, generally considered to be the threshold value for increased coronary risk.

What's the reason for the discrepancy? Even the researchers aren't quite sure, but maybe you'll come up with some theories of your own by viewing this week's AuntMinnieTV segment, which you can reach by clicking here.