Question

What is hypertropic cardiomyopathy? How does this relate to exrcise and younger athletes?

Answer 1

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a primary disease of the myocardium (the muscles of the heart) in which a portion of the myocardium is hypertrophied (thickened) without any cause, which creates functional impairment of the cardiac muscle, heart become less efficient in pumping blood. This is considered to be an autosomal genetic disorder. Symptoms include:

• Shortness of breath
• Feeling tired
• Swelling in legs
• Arrhythmia
• Sudden heart failure

Relation with exercise and younger athletes

HCM is a congenital disease and doesn’t usually cause problems in childhood, but it is one of the cause of death in otherwise healthy individuals, especially young people with lots of physical activity that put strain to the heart, some studies suggest athletes have a higher rate of sudden cardiac death than non-athletes. The US National Registry of Sudden Death in Athletes, found over one-third to be due to HCM. How exercise may impact progression of disease in HCM is unknown at this time. But 56 percent deaths are reported due to exertion in young athletes and 43 percent during death. Most of the patients are advised not to exercise at all but recent studies have suggested that moderate exercise may be not just safe but beneficial in decreasing symptom burden in HCM.