History
The athlete's heart was first described in 1899 by S. Henschen. He compared the heart size of cross-country skiers to those who lived sedentary lives. He noticed that those who participated in competitive sports displayed symptoms of athlete’s heart syndrome. Henschen believed the symptoms were a normal adjustment to exercise, and felt there was no need for concern. Henschen believed that the entire heart became enlarged, when in fact it is only the left side that becomes hypertrophic. He also believed athletes with AHS lived shorter lives than those who did not acquire the syndrome. Because his research occurred throughout the 19th century, technology was limited, and it became difficult to come up with appropriate ways to measure the hearts of athletes. Few believed in Henschen’s theory about athletes having larger hearts than those who did not participate in sports. Today, Henschen’s original theory has proved to be correct.
Read more about this topic: Athletic Heart Syndrome
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Look through the whole history of countries professing the Romish religion, and you will uniformly find the leaven of this besetting and accursed principle of action—that the end will sanction any means.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)
“There is a constant in the average American imagination and taste, for which the past must be preserved and celebrated in full-scale authentic copy; a philosophy of immortality as duplication. It dominates the relation with the self, with the past, not infrequently with the present, always with History and, even, with the European tradition.”
—Umberto Eco (b. 1932)
“I believe my ardour for invention springs from his loins. I can’t say that the brassiere will ever take as great a place in history as the steamboat, but I did invent it.”
—Caresse Crosby (1892–1970)