i’m new to this place and did not know chris g, but i haven’t been able to shake the whole terrible situation out of my mind.
it seems like every time something tragic like this happens, people mourn and lament about how terrible it is, but they change nothing in their own lives.
I was talking to a friend of mine who is a nurse and a triathlete about the situation and she said that she annually gets a physical with an EKG. Hopefully any abnormalities can be detected this way before something more sudden and sad happens.
it reminded me of a friend of mine who just turned 30. he had some strange chest aches at the end of eagleman this year and they rushed him to the ER where they did an EKG. he had never had one before, though, so there was nothing to compare it too. getting one done during a time of duress is much less helpful without a baseline to compare it too.
so, my public service announcement for the day is to schedule a physical with an EKG today. make it an annual occurrence. who knows if it will prevent anything like this from happening, but it sure couldn’t hurt.
i’ll be scheduling one for my husband and i this week.
An EKG will not find many heart abnormalities…at least not those that are typically responsible for the accidents we all dread
among very fit athletes. At least once in their athletic career, people should do a VO2max test, probably an 3D echo cardio,
and for those who have PAC, PVC, a 24hr holter monitor.
An annual physical exam makes good sense for every athlete.
Hooslisa alludes to the problem of athletes and heart disease. The unfortunate truth is that athletes DO die from unrecognized heart disease. I ran in the Philadelphia Marathon last weekend and bore witness to the sirens tending to both the 21-year-old and 42-year-old victims.
A 1-time EKG is useful for detecting inherited forms of “electrical” heart disease…problems that predispose individuals to sudden forms of arrhythmias. And a 1-time echocardiogram is useful for detecting all sorts of structural problems with the heart, including ones such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) that predispose athletes to sudden cardiac death. If the EKG and echocardiogram are normal, they don’t need to be repeated for athletes who are well.
Those tests are just one part of a meaningful relationship with a physician. Endurance athletes, especially, should have a doctor who can take a detailed medical history and perform a careful physical examination designed to look for heart and vascular disease. In the context of an ongoing relationship with your doctor, together you can make choices about any diagnostic testing that may be useful to screen for hidden problems…or used to evaluate any signs or symptoms.
I encourage athletes to take charge of their health and healthcare. I think you’re on the right track.
The loss has hit me hard also. As an older athlete, I plan to run my race, rejoice in my finish and not worry about my time.
I have a bad habit of running hard when I see the finish line and have over stressed my body. I’ve promised my family that I will stop this habit and keep my heart rate in zones 1 & 2 and maybe a little zone 3. No longer will I push my threshold.
A better question is where do you find a “Family Doctor-GP” who has an interest/background in sportsmedicine or items related to this thread? Or is the question, where do you find those physicians who practice/have an interest in preventive health/medicine opposed to working on those with an illness/issue?
Many physicians are in groups. Most of these groups should have websites with a short bios on the IM/FG docs.(especially if they are interested in expanding their panels)
Just about every doc has some personal interests listed such as running, triathlon, golf, photography. Match up a few names with what you are looking for, then ask your athletic friends who they see and what they think. That will give you a starting point.
Just like you wouldn’t buy a bike without doing some research neither should you select your primary care provider without doing some research.
The other thing I’d say is be proactive when you go see your physician. If you have concerns write them down and bring them with you. It’s easy to forget what you want to talk about. Don’t be that patient with one foot out the door that says “oh one other thing”.
In a 15min scheduled visit you are going to have 2-3 minutes to lay out what you want to cover in that visit, 7-8 minutes will be spent addressing those concerns, the rest will be spent ordering labs etc. Be organized for you sake and the physicians sake.
A better question is where do you find a “Family Doctor-GP” who has an interest/background in sportsmedicine or items related to this thread? Or is the question, where do you find those physicians who practice/have an interest in preventive health/medicine opposed to working on those with an illness/issue?
The skeptics can come up with all sorts of reasons to doubt the effectiveness of an annual visit to the GP but folks there’s no downside to going. I was a life long skeptic and occasional visitor (i.e. hardly ever) to the doctor until last year’s visit when my GP was the first to spot a case of melanoma. Caught it early, got it taken care of and now I’m going to make sure I’m back in the GP’s office every year.
A better question is where do you find a “Family Doctor-GP” who has an interest/background in sportsmedicine or items related to this thread? Or is the question, where do you find those physicians who practice/have an interest in preventive health/medicine opposed to working on those with an illness/issue?
A better question is where do you find a “Family Doctor-GP” who has an interest/background in sportsmedicine or items related to this thread? Or is the question, where do you find those physicians who practice/have an interest in preventive health/medicine opposed to working on those with an illness/issue?
Most generalists who are sports medicine trained (have done a fellowship) will be members of AMSSM. Here is the find a doc feature from their website:
Medical tests without indications can hurt - in many ways. I would agree that an EKG is a relatively benign test - and some think it’s indicated prior to clearance for any athlete to train (I think Italy does EKGs in all youth athletic programs though not 100% sure if I’m remembering that guideline correctly), but you can take it too far…
Should all athletes have coronary CTs? Nuclear stress tests? Angiograms? Electrophysio studies?
Why not just put implantable defibrillators (AICDs) in all athletes? Think that is going too far? A cardiologist commented once that he felt all marathon runners should have AICDs placed…
All tests have false positives that lead to more tests and most tests have some risk. You should only have tests that are recommended by a physician -and then you hope your physician knows what they are doing and the test is truly indicated…thinking “what can it hurt” is a bad approach as it can hurt…or kill.
A better question is where do you find a “Family Doctor-GP” who has an interest/background in sportsmedicine or items related to this thread? Or is the question, where do you find those physicians who practice/have an interest in preventive health/medicine opposed to working on those with an illness/issue?
Most generalists who are sports medicine trained (have done a fellowship) will be members of AMSSM. Here is the find a doc feature from their website:
Medical tests without indications can hurt - in many ways. I would agree that an EKG is a relatively benign test - and some think it’s indicated prior to clearance for any athlete to train (I think Italy does EKGs in all youth athletic programs though not 100% sure if I’m remembering that guideline correctly), but you can take it too far…
Should all athletes have coronary CTs? Nuclear stress tests? Angiograms? Electrophysio studies?
Why not just put implantable defibrillators (AICDs) in all athletes? Think that is going too far? A cardiologist commented once that he felt all marathon runners should have AICDs placed…
All tests have false positives that lead to more tests and most tests have some risk. You should only have tests that are recommended by a physician -and then you hope your physician knows what they are doing and the test is truly indicated…thinking “what can it hurt” is a bad approach as it can hurt…or kill.
Dave
Agreed.
One thing I would add as an ER physician is that having that baseline EKG to compare to is useless unless you actually have it…meaning if you are traveling for a race the local hospital won’t have access to it (unless part of a huge group like Kaiser). Some people with baseline abnormal ekgs will carry a small sized one in case they end up in the hospital. This is incredibly helpful…if you have a ‘normal’ ekg, it’s probably not necessary.
Thank you for your response. I’m just trying to be realistic. I want to compete for a long time and I believe I can if I stay in a comfortable range when racing and training. I believe others need to also.
Pushing your race beyond your abilities is not worth the outcome.
When older athletes compete in their threshold, are they not putting themselves in the danger zone and possibly over stressing their hearts and bodies?
Racing and training is healthy until our egos push us into dangerous situations. I believe some athletes push themselves too hard to qualify for races like Kona and Boston. I’ve talked to many athletes who feel like losers when they don’t get their slot, when they need to rejoice in the moment and the race finish. Many of these athletes are hurting for weeks after pushing their bodies to qualify.
Athletes need to get annual physicals, but also realize our limitations. The athletes lost this year may still be with us.
