Good article in MH re: Marathons

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firefreak

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So I went to get my haircut on Saturday and while I was waiting picked up the latest issue of Men's Health to pass the time. I thumbed through and found this article on the health risks associated with marathoning. I found it pretty interesting and very informational in regards to what exactly causes such levels of pain (the day after) and unfortunately a high risk of a Myocardial Infarction.

I found it ironic as I read the article on Saturday and the NY Marathon was on Sunday, where 1 runner passed away and 2 others suffered cardiac arrest, but were revived thanks to the fast action of a fellow runner starting CPR immediately in one case and early intervention by EMT's with a defibrillator in both cases.
 
Runner's World (print magazine that I saw in the library) had an article on the same subject. Basically, they noted that heart attack risk increases during strenuous exercise, but overall risk is lower than for a sedentary person. Also, many of those athletes who died while running a race were later found or believed to have pre-existing heart defects or disease.

They also noted that during a severe snowstorm, heart attacks spiked as people not accustomed to heavy exercise tried to shovel the snow away from their houses. Heart attacks went down shortly thereafter, since the snow shoveling probably caused those on the verge of getting a heart attack to get them on the snowy day instead of on random days over some period of time.
 
Thats a scary article to me because I do have MVP and have had many echos for it in past years due to palpatations and chest pain. However, I have to take it with a grain of salt. There have been a handful of those who have died because of preexisting heart conditions like this while or after marathoning compared to the thousands who have had the same valve conditions and survived just fine. I've read that 3-5% of the population has MVP to some extent. In a single marathon that can equal thousands of people. Hydration is of most importance for these people and of course you should be actually trained for the race you participate in. Still scary :(
 
sparrow said:
Thats a scary article to me because I do have MVP and have had many echos for it in past years due to palpatations and chest pain. However, I have to take it with a grain of salt. There have been a handful of those who have died because of preexisting heart conditions like this while or after marathoning compared to the thousands who have had the same valve conditions and survived just fine. I've read that 3-5% of the population has MVP to some extent. In a single marathon that can equal thousands of people. Hydration is of most importance for these people and of course you should be actually trained for the race you participate in. Still scary :(
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That was the biggie in the article. Being properly train, with a weekly mileage of at least 45 miles/wk prior to race day.
 
tjl said:
Runner's World (print magazine that I saw in the library) had an article on the same subject. Basically, they noted that heart attack risk increases during strenuous exercise, but overall risk is lower than for a sedentary person. Also, many of those athletes who died while running a race were later found or believed to have pre-existing heart defects or disease.

They also noted that during a severe snowstorm, heart attacks spiked as people not accustomed to heavy exercise tried to shovel the snow away from their houses. Heart attacks went down shortly thereafter, since the snow shoveling probably caused those on the verge of getting a heart attack to get them on the snowy day instead of on random days over some period of time.
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Yes, but your article is more geared torward the immediate added stress (i.e. shoveling snow) causing an MI in an unhealthy abd out of shape individual. This is more geared towards the immune response aggravating a silent condition in a person who has been training for months.
 
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firefreak said:
That was the biggie in the article. Being properly train, with a weekly mileage of at least 45 miles/wk prior to race day.
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yeah, well, by that standard I guess I'd put my "things" in order before the marathon!
 
not to diminish anyones death but I would much rather die doing than live coasting through life. 1/2 marathon for me May 3rd. Chat with you May 4th, if i am not here contact John Edward.
 
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