Healthy men over 50 who had finished at least five marathons in the last five years were more likely to have major calcium deposits in their arteries than healthy men who did not run as much, according to a study presented yesterday at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.

这项次研究由德国的 Dr. Stefan Möhlenkamp, a cardiologist at University Clinic in Essen 主持。在108位参与研究的年长男性马拉松跑手中，36%的冠状动脉钙化 (calcium score) 指数超过100，显示可能有较高的心血管病的风险 (possibly a sign of increased cardiovascular risk)。至于在216位不跑马拉松而有心臟病风险的人士中，钙化指数超过100的只有22%。

幸好这项研究仍属初步阶段，否则会吓怕不少跑手。正如 Dr. Möhlenkamp 也说，这项研究只看钙化指数，并没有查察参加者的临床健康状况，因此，他的研究团队计划对参加者进行最少为期5年的跟进研究。

Dr. Möhlenkamp 展开这项研究，是因为 “he got the idea for the study after hearing about some healthy older male runners who had heart attacks when running marathons. As a man who runs about 12 miles a week, he said, he was surprised by the possibility that long-distance running might pose heart risks.”

他又说，竞赛性的运动不适合年长人士，因为会损害健康： “the study did not suggest that exercise is not beneficial. Rather, it seems that competitive exercise, like marathon running, may take a toll on some older athletes.”

不论是年长还是年青的跑步人士，不论是业余跑手还是为了减肥而跑步人，都喜爱参加比赛，不断挑战自己。跑手不参加比赛是很难想像的事。我想，只要比赛前练习充足，并在练习时留意自己的生理状况，有疑问时及早谘询医生，跑步和比赛还是可以继续下去的。

来源：Paul Cheung