Research

Thesis title: "Acute and chronic sex-specific effects of physical activity on the heart  – an echocardiographic study"

Thesis outline: The aim of the project is to increase our knowledge on emerging echocardiographic techniques such as 3D-echocardiography and speckle tracking echocardiography in healthy young subjects with or without an athlete's heart at rest as well as during physical exercise with a special focus on sex-specific differences. Further the project aims to evaluate the influence of physical activity and training on structural and functional measurements obtained with echocardiography. It will have a special focus on the female athlete's heart and will increase our knowledge about physiological and possible pathophysiological changes of the heart at rest and under stress, respectively. These findings could be used to increase our knowledge about sex-specific adaptational processes in terms of an athlete's heart and to ease the differentiation from physiological adaptations and pathologies to prevent sudden cardiac death in athletes.

Supervisors: Jürgen Scharhag, Barbara Wessner

Back