A new book on exercise addiction and heart disease ( arrhythmias)

arnold schmidt

One case study is on Dave Scott and his AFIB

Tom Glynn

This topic seems to come up every couple of years.  It seems to be a fairly small base of people it affects, and getting AFIB is sure a lot better than a massive heart attack.  Any idea if there is any new research presented? 

This is the guy who made the subject famous 10 years ago.  www.drjohnm.org/atrial-fib/  I think it gets rehashed regularly.

Paul Hough

I ordered the book a few days ago after reading some discussion on it in SlowTwitch.  I need to read the book before I can comment...which means it will be several months. 

arnold schmidt

The CDC AFIB data sheet

https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_atrial_fibrillation.

excerpt above

Al Truscott

Four years ago, out of curiosity plus a research article noted in the link below, I had a bit of a cardiac workup done, just to see where I stood. I wrote a blog post about it:

http://bikrutz.org/triblog/?p=1140

Shaughn Simmons

Thanks for putting this out there "Al Truscott" and, I enjoyed reading your blog.

I need to dig in a read a lot more to say the least.  Curious to know how "TOO MUCH" exercise is defined....i.e., too much TSS over a certain time period, too much time in Z5 for a given CTL(fitness level)?, TOO much exercise period?  I have too many questions as to how it is all measured....

That said, I cannot discount the fact that this is a subject which should not be swept under the rug, it is important just as using the correct, relevant facts are important to help some of us stubborn, type A personalities actually make the changes needed....

Also wondering, in this study how the numbers stack up when comparing athletes to non-athletes vs. only showing changes within the athlete population?  In other words, hoping I find a balanced, non-biased view as I dig through it all....

SS

arnold schmidt

"Denial can be referred to as a refusal to admit the truth or reality.

 In psychology it refers to a type of defense mechanism where people subconsciously reject aspects of reality that they are not comfortable with.

Those who are addicted to alcohol or drugs can have little insight into their own condition as a result of denial.

Most people will experience at least some level of denial about things that make them uncomfortable, but the addict develops a more rigid type of denial that can be difficult to penetrate."

From alcoholrehab.com

posted by a 65 year old triathlete following a 60 mile time trial @ 85% ftp this morning, after running 10 miles yesturday, etc, who will now go out and stand in 60 degree gulf water for 20 minutes to reduce leg soreness, then go to his physical therapist to work on sore hamstrings , then put on his compression boots to aid in recovery so he can train again tomorrow

i forgot to do my 30 min brick run

scott dinhofer

I will be buying this over the weeknd and will devour it. By devour, I mean that I will finish it before Paul Hough does  For those that are newer here i was MISdiagnosed with HCM a few years ago. It was just an odd presentation of athletic heart.

That said, there are studies, as I am sure this book dives into that now believe that thickened heart tissue whether pathological or as a result of exercise is a bad thing. 
As for how much is too much. It's more a question of how little is enough? The answer is that anyone who is participating in endurance sports is doing too much. About a 1/2 hour a day of "jogging" or fast walking should be "enough" with a good, healthy diet. 

In my journey for answers, I was fortunate enough to befriend Larry Creswell who is a cardiac surgeon in Alabama and THE guy who does all of the cardiac studies for USAT. His blog The Athletes Heart is chock full of great stuff on this. 

since we are on the topic, make sure you watch "flatline to finishline" on Amazon and donate to the Ironheart Foundation. A great cause and resource on these topics. 

Derrek Sanks

I just read this in the Oct issue of Runners World.  Though it has a running focus, I thought it was well presented and provides insightful information on "the rest of the story" behind the various studies/research and how the results are interrupted/adjusted and not agreed upon by the experts.   http://www.runnersworld.com/heart/can-running-kill-you

Paul Hough

@Scott - my order hasn't even shipped yet.  I had an 'interesting' heart-related episode on the bike trainer last week where I went into a rapid heart beat for about 10 mins...either that or my heart strap went haywire, but the spike lasted a good 10 mins and I hit 178 while in a Z4 block that should have been about 20 beats lower.  When I hit that, I pulled out and it slowly started going, before all of sudden plummeting back to normal.  Very weird.  So yeah, I need to read the book. 

arnold schmidt

Derrek - i read the runners world article -
note this :  

" A more serious concern is the possibility that high doses of exercise-can cause atherosclerosis, as calcium-rich plaques accumulate in the arteries leading to your heart. This is the condition that was diagnosed in 1968 Boston Marathon winner Amby Burfoot.:
"
I think its a fact, not a possibility

scott - i watched the movie - very moving - 1 person in their training group died during training for the ironman of a heart attack - very sad, others were strongly advised not to do the race

Robert Sabo

@arnoldschmidt those calcium rich placques are much less likely to embolize (break off and block an artery) than the fatty placques.

Paul Hough

I got the book yesterday, read 2 chapters, 4 case studies, and skimmed much of it ... going for the meat to evaluate myself. 

Good - I have not had any AF like episodes; I rarely drink, I do not have high blood pressure, I am not tall, and I am not stressed in my life or work. 

Bad - I am older (60 this year), male, and have a history of endurance training going back to 9th grade; although I am hardly in Dave Scott's category.  

I think the book has a lot of good advice (i.e., detraining by 50% if you ever do get AF) and giving you signs of what to watch for.  I love the endurance lifestyle and would hate to give it up if I ever got AF, but at the same time, I've already done so much, I could rationalize the drop to MOP and picking up some other hobbies.  Meanwhile, I will just continue to self-monitor.

arnold schmidt

An interesting article regarding heart artery calcium:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/2015/10/plaque-paradox-statins-increase-calcium-in-coronary-atheromas-even-while-shrinking-them/amp/?client=safari


Excerpt:

Plaque Paradox: Statins Increase Calcium in Atheromas Even as They Shrink Them

"

• Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who are treated with statins experience an increase in coronary calcification, an effect that is independent of plaque progression or regression.
• Paradoxically, high-intensity statin therapy is associated with the largest increases in coronary calcification despite promoting atheroma regression.

“Patients prescribed the highest doses of statins, despite achieving low levels of cholesterol and demonstrating marked plaque regression, had changes in plaque calcification that were nearly double the changes in patients who received no statins, and greater than changes in those who received low-intensity statin therapy, both of which were associated with plaque progression,” says the study’s principal investigator, Rishi Puri, MBBS, PhD.

The increase in calcification revealed by the analysis may represent a means by which statin therapy stabilizes coronary plaque to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, says the study’s senior investigator, Steven Nissen, MD, who adds that this hypothesis remains to be proved.

“We found that as plaques were getting smaller with statins, they were calcifying,” explains Dr. Nissen, Chairman of the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Cleveland Clinic.

“It’s exactly the opposite of what you might think intuitively,” he continues. “This is an important observation that tells us that statins work to stabilize plaques by converting softer, cholesterol-laden plaques that are prone to rupture into more stable calcified plaques that are relatively inert. It explains the paradox of why serial measurement of calcium doesn’t necessarily work to track the progression of disease, and it explains to some extent how statins work.”