The Agony of Long-Distance Runners: Coronary Plaque

[RamboLiberal]

A group of elite long-distance runners had less body fat, better cholesterol and blood lipid profiles, and better heart rates than people being tested for cardiac disease. Paradoxically, however, the runners had more calcified plaque in their heart arteries, according to a study reported this week.

Investigators performed computed tomography (CT) angiography on 25 people who had run at least one marathon a year since 1985, according to senior author Dr. Robert Schwartz of the Minneapolis Heart Institute and Foundation. They compared the athletes with 23 control patients who were undergoing the same scan for symptomatic or suspected heart abnormalities.

Researchers looked for the amount of calcium plaque on the inside of the subjects' arteries. Past research has suggested that the more calcium plaque inthe arteries, the higher the risk of heart attacks and death from heart disease.

In the non-runners, the calcium plaque volume was 169 cubic millimeters, compared with 274 cubic millimeters for the elite runners, the researchers reported at the American College of Cardiology meeting.

The reasons for the high-calcified plaque readings among hard-core athletes are elusive, "but the runners' favorable factors may be counterbalanced by metabolic and mechanical factors that enhance coronary plaque growth," suggested Dr. Jonathan Schwartz of the University of Colorado Health Science Center in Denver, lead author of the study and son of Robert Schwartz.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/HeartDisease/coronary-plaque-plague-long-distance-runners/story?id=10140233

[TheDebbieDee]

1. WTF? I thought even short distance runners would be thought

to have lower levels of plaque in their arteries. Maybe I'm wasting my time trying to get back into shape by running? Well, this can't be good!

[Warpy]

2. This also isn't the whole story

since runners and other people who do frequent aerobic exercise like swimming are also building a lot of collateral circulation, new blood vessels that increase blood flow to and around the heart, as well as to the muscles used in that exercise.

In fact, one reason for the higher plaque loads might be the increased number of vessels.

[Xipe Totec]

3. Ever hear of Jim Fixx?

James F. Fixx (April 23, 1932–July 20, 1984) was the author of the 1977 best-selling book, The Complete Book of Running. Best known as Jim Fixx, he is credited with helping start America's fitness revolution, popularizing the sport of running and demonstrating the health benefits of regular jogging.

Fixx died at the age of 52 of a fulminant heart attack, after his daily run, on Vermont Route 15 in Hardwick. The autopsy revealed that atherosclerosis had blocked one coronary artery 95%, a second 85%, and a third 50%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Fixx

I'm not saying that running killed him. On the contrary, running actually prolonged his life.

What I am saying is that there are other factors that most people are unaware of.

One of the largest factors in fulminating heart disease is hemochromatosis. a genetic condition that predisposes people to accumulate exessive amounts of iron in their bodies.

http://www.hemochromatosis.org

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

4. If I recall, Fixx had also been a smoker etc. before he converted to the true church of running.

Could have started up plenty of atherosclerosis then, not to mention the genetic factors.

[Xipe Totec]

5. I don't know how long he had been an ex-smoker,

but according to my physician, there is little difference in heart disease risk between a non-smoker, and an ex-smoker who has stopped smoking for 10 years or more.

Although cancer is a different issue.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. Physical stress does you in. So does fate. (Plus at no extra charge, I ramble on like a loon.)

We have gotten into the bad habit of thinking that having a lean, athletic body and "eating right" is a moral path that will lead us to Eternal Life. The reality is a little different. Any and all serious athletic training can, and will, raise stress hormone levels, and they eventually lead to inflammatory processes like atherosclerosis, arthritis and the like, and other forms of accelerated aging.

Even dieting is stressful -- especially if you're constantly getting feedback that you are worthless because your body is not pleasing to the eyes of moral (i.e., slim) people.

I think that the best path to good health is to de-stress while making planned, non-abrupt changes in your eating and exercise. Some problems require a full-out effort, but simply refraining from beating yourself up goes a long, long way.

There are also some things you can't control. Jim Fixx, I originally heard, had a congenital heart problem. So did John Ritter, and this week, we lost Alex Chilton for the same reason. I knew Mr. Chilton, mainly as a fan, but had the opportunity to chat with him a few times. He certainly had an "edge" in the 1980s, though he was unfailingly polite (even with jackasses like me). Recently, like 7-8 years ago, I found that he was almost content, if you can imagine such a thing -- and no less incisive or musically adept, either. And he died this week, WAY too young, IMO. But I'd like to think he did enjoy most of his whole 59-year-long ride.

I've known a lot of musicians over the years. They really are, as a group, the modern saints of our neo-sinful world. Even plenty of non-smokers have died early. Barry Cowsill, for example, died in Hurricane Katrina, and it almost got Chilton, too. (And Antoine "Fats" Domino, Susan Cowsill, Vicki Peterson, and others. Heckuva job, eh?) If you are serious about music, once you and your pals reach about 40, make sure to keep tissues in stock.

I'm still quite overweight, and 51, but three years after making some serious changes in how I live, my heart is essentially FREE from all plaque. I've even had a couple bouts of cellulitis -- skin infections from staph and strep infections -- and no damage was done. I exercise and eat better, but I'm not too strict about it. The real key is reducing stress and finding something compelling in one's life after you're no longer young and pretty. And then if you die in spite of your best efforts, at least you had a good time before check-out!

Granted, I never smoked, and may have superior genetic SIRT1 expression, but I was quite ill from 1998-2005. Learning to enjoy being alive made the other changes a lot easier and even fun. Perfection still eludes me, but I'm not all that concerned now.

And I'm almost deaf (from non-music-related causes). But I still love music, even though it's a lot less auditorially "full". Writing, playing, and singing never felt better. I may drop dead tomorrow, but today, I'm alive.

So eat your vegetables and sing!

--d!

[wishlist]

7. Long distance running (esp on public highways) is stressful

There is always physical stress but there can also be mental/emotional stress if you are using same roads with vehicles and also if you are in a situation of competition or trying to keep up with the pack of other runners. I am not a runner, but as an avid hiker and bike rider I try to avoid public roads and avoid being in groups where I feel pressure to keep up a pace that is not optimal for me.