When an athlete develops exertional chest discomfort, fainting, inappropriate breathlessness or palpitations, Dr Rao said evaluation can include several tests.
A 12-lead ECG can look for abnormal electrical patterns. An echocardiogram can assess the heart’s structure and function. Exercise stress testing can help identify exercise-related rhythm disturbances or reduced blood flow.
In selected cases, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging can provide a closer look at heart muscle, including patterns associated with cardiomyopathy or fibrosis. Ambulatory rhythm monitoring can capture intermittent arrhythmias and assess abnormal beats such as premature ventricular contractions.
The goal is not to scare people away from endurance sport. It is to recognise that training harder is not always the answer to declining performance.
For most people, exercise remains one of the best things they can do for cardiovascular health. The wiser approach is to build endurance progressively, respect recovery, stay hydrated and take unusual symptoms seriously.