Sudden Death—A Significant Hazard of Exercise?

Sudden and unaccustomed physical activity may precipitate ventricular fibrillation, myocardial infarction, and sudden death. Evidence supporting this contention is drawn from a review of physio-pathology, reported antecedents of infarction and death, and the experience of exercise test centres and gymnasia. In some reported series risk of precipitating ventricular fibrillation in a coronary-prone population has been as high as 2 episodes per 1000 man hours of physical activity. Such an incidence has important medico-legal implications for fitness test centres and gymnasia. Despite the challenge of devising an exercise prescription that will avoid such hazards, current evidence suggests the long term effects of increased physical activity improve the prognosis of both the sedentary business men and the coronary-prone individual.