Academy Supporting Heart Health Project

A unique research project to identify the effects of exercise on young hearts has been announced on Wednesday. Manchester United's Academy players are having their hearts monitored by the newest imaging technology to give invaluable insights into how young people's hearts work while doing exercise.

The project, led by the Bristol Heart Institute at the University of Bristol, together with partners Toshiba Medical Systems, Bristol's Clinical Research and Imaging Centre (CRICBristol), the University of Exeter's Children's Health and Exercise Research Centre and Manchester United, will identify the healthy limits and the wider benefits of exercise for young elite athletes, normal healthy children and children with congenital heart defects.

The research partnership, the first of its kind, will investigate the fitness levels of 300 children whilst exercising, when the heart is working harder. Participants are made up of 100 children born with heart conditions, 100 healthy children and adolescents and 100 elite junior athletes from the Manchester United Academy.

This will help to identify heart performance of the different groups under stress and provide support with better identification of abnormalities, which sometimes do not present themselves at rest. The findings will be completed by 2016.

Testing on elite youth athletes is already under way at United. Elite athletes at the club's Academy train in a professional environment for between 10 and 12 hours every week and it is important to assess progress and performance but also define healthy exercise quantities to optimise each youngster's potential.

The overall aim of the project is to more precisely identify the safe levels of exercise for children with congenital heart disease, as well as to clearly define the positive benefits that regular exercise delivers to normal healthy children over time. Additionally, data from the young athletes will be used to improve screening protocols for cardiac abnormalities in young athletes. The exercise and performance data will benefit the club and the young athletes as it aims to help optimize performance and individual training programmes based on exact physiological requirements and limits.

Dr Dave Perry, Academy doctor at United, said: "Our players at the Academy have been offered an amazing opportunity to receive a most comprehensive screening of their cardiovascular (CVS) health. The screening process will give a novel way of ensuring that they have no identifiable cardiac issues.

"The screening will allow examination of their hearts while under intense stress using the Toshiba cardiac ultrasound system. This can be further followed up by the use of the Toshiba MRI scanner to provide comprehensive assessment of CVS health and fitness. The players are enthused that their information will help to contribute to furthering knowledge about the health of the nation.

"The screening process will help to provide reassurance to the players' parents that their son is capable of withstanding the demands that training at an elite level requires. Parents frequently ask me with regard to the risks of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) while exercising and the current pathway will hopefully provide some reassurance. It is hoped that the information from the fitness assessment will help to develop and fine tune the club’s Sports Science department training programmes."

Dr Steve McNally, the head of Football Medicine and Science at United, added: "This research is the first practical example of the partnership between United and Toshiba Medical Systems making a significant contribution to the development of healthcare for the general population, whilst also innovating in the field of Sports Medical Screening."

Credit: Manutd.com