Study Status: Completed
Recruit Status: Completed
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: Magnetic Resonance Technique in the Assessment of Exercise-induced Long- and Short-Term Changes in Cardiac Function and Morphology
Brief Summary:
Until now it has been assumed that regular endurance training has a positive influence on cardiac function and that the positive effect increases with increasing intensity. However, little is known about the effects of intense endurance stress on the heart. According to current knowledge repeated exposure to strenuous endurance activity may lead to minor but possibly irreversible damage to the heart with resultant scarring of the heart's muscle.
Within this study we attempt to find out by different analytical methods - in particular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound of the heart - to what extent the heart muscle is affected by an intense endurance exercise, i.e. the "Jungfrau-Marathon", and which changes can possibly be found. Due to repeated measurements we will obtain further information on the short-term course of possible changes.
Hypotheses: A single bout of prolonged strenuous exercise (PSE) leads to transient alteration in cardiac function accompanied by the appearance of biomarkers for myocardial damage.