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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON CARDIAC STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION: A TWIN STUDY |
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Sara Mutikainen1  ,
Merja Perhonen2, Markku Alén1,3,4, Tuija Leskinen1,
Jouko Karjalainen5, Taina Rantanen1,6, Jaakko Kaprio7,8,9
and Urho M.Kujala1 |
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1Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland, 2CorusFit Oy, Jyväskylä, Finland, 3Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland, 4Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland, 5Unit for Sports and Exercise Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, 6Finnish Centre for Interdisciplinary Gerontology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland, 7Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland, 8National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland, 9Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, Helsinki, Finland. |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2009) 8, 533 - 542 |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| Previous studies have shown that athletic training or other physical
activity causes structural and functional adaptations in the heart, but
less is known how long-term physical activity affects heart when genetic
liability and childhood environment are taken into account. The aim of this
study was to investigate the effects of long-term physical activity vs.
inactivity on cardiac structure and function in twin pairs discordant for
physical activity for 32 years. Twelve same-sex twin pairs (five monozygotic
and seven dizygotic, 50-67 years) were studied as a part of the TWINACTIVE
study. Discordance in physical activity was initially determined in 1975
and it remained significant throughout the follow-up. At the end of the
follow-up in 2007, resting echocardiographic and electrocardiographic measurements
were performed. During the follow-up period, the active co-twins were on
average 8.2 (SD 4.0) MET hours/day more active than their inactive co-twins
(p < 0.001). At the end of the follow-up, resting heart rate was lower
in the active than inactive co-twins [59 (SD 5) vs. 68 (SD 10) bpm, p=0.03].
The heart rate-corrected QT interval was similar between the co-twins. Also,
there was a tendency for left ventricular mass per body weight to be greater
and T wave amplitude in lead II to be higher in the active co-twins (18%
and 15%, respectively, p=0.08 for both). Similar trends were found for both
monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs. In conclusion, the main adaptation
to long- term physical activity is lowered resting heart rate, even after
partially or fully controlling for genetic liability and childhood environment.
Key words: Exercise, echocardiography, electrocardiography, heart rate, controlling for genetic liability, longitudinal study. |
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