I seem to be on the mailing list of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean as occasionally they will send me scientific articles on studies related to heart health.

As I was reading one of the articles on how calcium in coronary arteries of youngsters can predict future heart health, I reflected on some heart rate variability (HRV) data that we had earlier collected from some of Jamaica’s junior elite athletes who seemed to be now having trouble transitioning to the senior level.

As a matter of fact, I pulled up the data on some of the seniors previously juniors, who now appear to be having extreme difficulties with the transition process. I checked the data for pulse rates and cortisol readings as a high cortisol level may indicate that the system is under stress.

I examined lactate and calcium levels to see if there were risk indications prior to any devastating injuries. The article I was reading, had indicated that high calcium in arteries might predict a later stroke even if there was no symptom.

I also know from my biochemistry that very high calcium in the blood or urine of athletes might indicate that the muscles are breaking down rapidly. I pooled together data from 10 of our now senior athletes who seemed to be in trouble of having their athletic careers derailed by injuries.

These athletes were prolific, but had one or more injuries during their junior years. For any of the youngsters enrolled in our study, we usually do a quick scan of the muscles, where ultrasound is used to determine how damaged a particular muscle group is.

Muscles which are inflamed or damaged usually give off a higher noise or echo intensity and appear much darker on the ultrasound scans. Like the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study which began in 1980 and identified young adults 18-25 years who were at risk for cardiovascular disease later, we picked up from our study at The University of the West Indies that some of these athletes had some anomalies long before injury symptoms appeared. There was possible extreme fatigue of or some muscle groups which could have later led to the injuries. This conclusion was backed up by the higher basal lactate levels we saw in these athletes.

We had collected lactate from these athletes early in the morning, as they reached school, when they had done no exercise or training. Like the CARDIA study, these former junior athletes also had higher calcium levels. I am wondering if with research and early intervention, we may save some of our young athletes and end up having more of our juniors transitioning to the senior elite level. If we start now, some of these juniors may make the Tokyo 2020 Olympic team.

Note: Dr Rachael Irving is a professor of biochemistry and sport science at the Faculty of Medical Sciences UWI, Mona.