When athletes need a cardiologist, who should they see? Thomas G. Allison, Ph.D., M.P.H., recommends a specialized cardiologist, called a sports cardiologist, for anyone who trains at least an hour a day.
Hear why Dr. Allison says that seeing the right provider can make all the difference.
We asked a Mayo Clinic expert: Why should athletes see a sports cardiologist?
Thomas G. Allison, Ph.D., M.P.H.: The sports cardiologist has the expertise and experience of looking at many, many athletic hearts and knowing what to expect based on the age, the sex, the sport and the experience.
The athletic heart, we say roughly an hour of training a day. Endurance training might produce different changes than strength training. NFL football players develop an athletic heart, but it looks different than the guys who ran the Boston marathon on Monday. The different stresses change the heart in different ways.
An athlete's heart performs differently
Dr. Allison: Every test done on your heart can be affected by your level of training. A normal person comes in saying "my heart rate was 35 last night." OK, we're thinking does this guy need a pacemaker? The athlete's heart is 35 and I say, "OK, that's fine."
Every test is going to have to be read against that background. If the cardiologist doesn't have that training, you may end up getting a lot of unnecessary tests and diagnosis that are incorrect. And that's because they were interpreting correctly the results, but in the wrong context.
Dr. Allison has helped hundreds of athletes stay on top of their heart health. He has also run 26 marathons and qualified for the Olympic trials.
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