“Pains in the chest, increased breathing problems, a marked decrease in performance, unexplained fast heart rates, fainting or near fainting,” said James McKinney a sports cardiologist with SportsCardiologyBC. “If you have those type of symptoms, you need to say ‘something’s wrong here’ and let your coach know, or if you’re a weekend warrior, see your general practitioner and get a referral.”
McKinney closely followed updates on whether COVID-19 could cause myocarditis from the earliest days of the pandemic. Reports from China showed it did. So he and a team of cardiologists across the country set out to form guidelines around returning to sport after COVID-19. Limited studies conducted with college and professional athletes in the U.S. showed incidence of serious heart injury such as myocarditis in elite athletes was uncommon — likely less than one per cent of COVID-positive patients.
What McKinney and the team of experts agreed was that athletes should refrain from returning to exercise for at least a week after their recovery. Then, they should watch closely for potential heart-related symptoms and go to their doctor if they appear.
Read the full article here from the Toronto Star.