Prospective Long Term Follow-up Analysis of Exercise-induced Physiological Changes in Male Runners

Physical activity is associated with health benefits. Acute prolonged and strenuous exercise, i.e. Marathon running, leads to hemodynamic, endothelial and myocardial functional changes. Whether these myocardial, endothelial and hemodynamic changes can also develop and persist through repetitive extreme and prolonged physical activity is currently still a matter of controversy. In addition, it is not known whether adaptations and changes over time can develop into clinically relevant cardiovascular events with negative health consequences in healthy athletes. The aim of this study is to detect exercise-induced physiological changes (inter alia of the cardiovascular system) induced by repetitive ultra-endurance strain over a period of 10 years.

For this purpose, 277 male participants from the Be-MaGIC study (Marathon 2009) are examined in this prospective observational study. A single examination with the following components will take place: Anthropometry, clinical examination, laboratory, resting / exercise electrocardiography cardiopulmonary stress test, echocardiography, and fundus camera. Further examinations will be conducted in participants with abnormal examination results in line with current clinical recommendations.