title: Excessive exercise habits of runners as new signs of hypertension and arrhythmia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Excessive exercise may induce arrhythmia, and this risk is higher in middle-aged people. The study aim was to compare the exercise characteristics of middle-aged runners participating in excessive endurance exercise.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects of this study were 552 runners (mean age; 49.0±7.4years) without structural heart disease who performed exercise at least twice per week, had consistently exercised for at least three years, and had finished at least five marathons. The arrhythmia runner group (ARG, n=14) and normal runner group (NRG, n=538) were compared with regard to hemodynamic response, cardiorespiratory fitness level, training history, number of finished races, finishing times, and exercise habits.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean resting systolic (134.0±15.8mmHg) and diastolic (85.8±10.9mmHg) blood pressure values indicated pre-hypertension, while the mean maximal SBP (213.7±27.4mmHg) values indicated exercise-induced hypertension. The VO2max was significantly higher and the maximal DBP was significantly lower in the ARG than in the NRG (p<0.05). Training history was significantly longer in the ARG than in the NRG (p<0.05), while the number of finished marathons, the finishing times in marathons and the exercise frequency per week didn't differ significantly between the two groups. Exercise intensity was significantly higher in the ARG than in the NRG (p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Middle-aged long-distance runners showed pre-hypertension and exercise-induced hypertension, and the ARG had higher VO2max values, greater exercise intensities, and longer training histories than the NRG.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Sanggye-Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Sports Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Chungnam, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chul-Hyun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: kyoungmin.park@samsung.com.
authors.forename: Kyoung-Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D058246:Prehypertension / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Arrhythmia; Atrial fibrillation; Exercise; Hypertension