• Posted August 28, 2025

Middle-Aged Folks At Risk For Irregular Heartbeat, Especially If They Don't Work Out

Middle-aged folks who don’t exercise are putting themselves at risk of life-threatening complex heartbeat irregularities, a new study says.

Adults 40 to 65 with low fitness levels had a 52% increased risk for irregular heartbeat disorders, also known as arrhythmias, according to findings presented Wednesday at the European Society of Cardiology’s annual meeting in Madrid.

Age also played a factor, with people’s risk rising as they advanced through middle age, researchers found.

These sort of irregular heartbeats can be a red flag for heart disease, and indicate that docs need to pay closer attention to the heart rhythms of middle-aged adults, researchers said.

“These findings are a powerful reminder that the heart often whispers before it shouts,” lead researcher Dr. Amit Moses, an internal medical resident at Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Israel, said in a news release.

“Subtle signs, such as frequent irregular heartbeats and complex arrhythmias, give us an early warning of future risk before symptoms occur,” Moses said. “This could allow early intervention to alter the trajectory of disease, allowing us to move to a new era of anticipatory heart medicine.”

For the study, researchers screened 1,151 healthy adults 40 to 65 who didn’t have any heart symptoms or structural heart disease — disease that affects the heart’s walls, valves and chambers. About 88% were men, and the average age was 52.

The participants’ fitness and heart health were monitored during exercise stress testing, with an electrocardiogram (ECG) recording their heart’s electrical activity.

Results showed that about a third (32%) suffered from supraventricular tachycardia, a fast and erratic beat in the heart’s upper chambers.

About 4% had atrial fibrillation, a quivering beat that occurs in the upper chambers of the heart, and 6% had non-sustained ventricular tachycardia, an irregular fast heartbeat in the lower chambers.

A person’s risk for one of these irregular heartbeat disorders increased by 9% a year for the heart’s upper chambers (the atrium) and 4% a year for the lower chambers (the ventricles). This marked increase started around age 50.

“Our findings suggest that risk of arrhythmia begins to increase well before typical retirement age,” Moses said. “They strongly support the need to screen older adults for arrhythmias, beginning at around age 50, to allow for timely intervention and improved long-term outcomes.”

However, Moses noted that more research is needed to confirm these findings.

“As this is an observational study, we need to be careful about drawing conclusions about causation, and it is also important to note this study was conducted in a population that was not very diverse, particularly with regards to gender,” he said.

“Future research will be needed to tell us whether it is possible to intervene early to reduce the risk of arrhythmias using lifestyle changes, exercise programs or pharmacological treatments,” Moses concluded.

Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

More information

The American Heart Association has more about arrhythmias.

SOURCE: European Society of Cardiology, news release, Aug. 27, 2025