Background: An old proverb teaches us Good things come to those who sweat. Apart from its philosophical and metaphysical meaning, it is also true by words. Many previous studies also supported this view, but study in the rural part of Bengal in this field had hardly been undertaken before.
Aim and Objectives: The objective of the study was to find any difference in cardiovascular parameters, for example, arterial blood pressure, heart rate; to compare the body mass index (BMI), skin fold thickness among athletes and non-athlete adult male volunteers; and also to identify any difference in resting electrocardiogram (ECG) patterns between those two groups.
Materials and Methods: The present article is a scientific validation of this statement. In technical terms, this is an institutional ethics committee certified case-control study conducted in Burdwan and Birbhum districts of West Bengal with 75 non-athlete people and 75 athletes.
Results: With the help of modern diagnostic tools and rigorous statistical methods, it was found that there are significant differences (P < 0.00001) between these two groups in terms of waist circumference, abdominal skin fold thickness, BMI, diastolic blood pressure (BP), and left ventricular hypertrophy by ECG. From existing medical knowledge-base, this finding can immediately be interpreted as having higher risk factors of coronary heart diseases for non-athlete people.
Conclusion: Based on these findings, authors recommended that a sedentary lifestyle should be avoided to get rid of hypertension and obesity and stay away from fatal coronary heart diseases. Regular Physical activity and healthy diet can help us to live a long and disease-free life. This article speaks nothing new and surprising but confirms an age-old truth with modern scientific experiments, methods, and techniques which is a need of the hour.
Key words: Athlete; Non-athlete; Body Mass Index; Diastolic Blood Pressure; Left Ventricular Hypertrophy; Cardiovascular Risk
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