The effects of athletic sports on the heart / by C.R. Bardeen.

  • Charles Russell Bardeen
Date:
[1913?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The effects of athletic sports on the heart / by C.R. Bardeen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    test and there were’a relatively low systolic pres- sure and pulse pressure but otherwise normal con- ditions. : From the data presented it is clear, I think, that severe athletic contests cause marked cardiac hyper- trophy in individuals who are strong ‘enough to take part in them. The cardiac hypertrophy gives greater capacity to stand prolonged severe mus- cular exertion, but is usually associated with some signs of functional disturbance. About the ulti- mate result in the life of the individual of an ath- letic heart acquired in youth we know little. For ordinary vocations and avocations an over-large heart can be of little use. Unless it is kept exer- cised it will assuredly undergo a detrimental retro- grade metamorphosis. Furthermore, most pathol- ogists believe that the musculature of an hyper- trophied heart is always somewhat. diseased and less resistant than that of the normal heart. The degree of myocarditis varies in different indi- viduals. | The hypertrophied heart is more liable to acute cardiac dilatation than the normal heart. At the Ja cases of acute dilatation in athletes in the non-athletes, although rela- In jease of severe fever these large hearts seem to be especially vulnerable. In from Annapolis it has been found six times as many deaths from among athletes as among non-athletes. If physical train- ing is to be made compulsory in our schools and violent athletic contests are to be incited by crowds and publicity, a serious duty devolves upon the medical profession to study the results carefully and, in case of each individual youth, to supply that balanced judgment concerning the value of various kinds of physical exercise which only those can have who follow human life from the womb to the winding sheet. The physical trainer has his hands full in endeavoring to teach grace and skill in bodily movements. We should no more expect him to be deeply skilled in medical science and medical judgment than we can expect the expert physician to be an expert in teaching skill in the use of the muscles. The medical profession must training, an excellent thing in itself, with per- sonal, preventive medicine, which is quite a dif- ferent thing. At the state university this is recog- nized. The department of clinical medicine has charge of the medical supervision of student health. It is distinct from the department of physical training’ with which, however, it endeavors to co- operate in promoting the welfare of the students.
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