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"By the end of the race they are so exhausted that one or two get admitted to hospital," Ashley said. The BBC ran a documentary about this particular event and about Ashley's experiments.

The hearts of the athletes that showed signs of cardiac fatigue did return to normal fairly quickly after the race and no permanent damage was done, Ashley said.

Surprisingly, the study also found that the hearts of athletes with a gene that has been dubbed the "fitness gene" actually tired more than those without it, which led to multiple speculations as to why this was so. Scientists found that the hearts of the athletes with the fitness gene pumped 13 percent less blood by the end of the race compared with 8 percent less in those without the gene. "Perhaps the athletes with the fitness gene simply push themselves harder and tire their hearts out more," Ashley said.

In addition to his research and other clinical responsibilities, Ashley runs the new hypertrophic cardiomyopathy clinic at Stanford. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the leading cause of sudden death in athletes.

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Contact: Tracie White
traciew@stanford.edu
650-723-7628
Stanford University Medical Center
25-Jul-2006