Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on why elite athletes end up with heart problems??? One would think that being in such phenomenal shape, one would avoid this type of thing.
Maybe they are elites because they have gigantic hearts?
Q = Stroke Volume × Heart rate
VO2 = (Q×CA) - (Q×CV)
Not to say anything about Stadler (except to wish him a speedy and full recovery), but in general blood doping drugs are known to cause heart problems. See, for example, “F.D.A. Urges Less Use of Anemia Drugs” from a couple of weeks back, the lead of which states:
Federal drug regulators said on Friday that three drugs that had been widely used to treat anemia in both kidney and cancer patients were so dangerous to the heart that doctors should consider avoiding the medicines altogether in some patients and using less of them in others.
I think it’s called “athlete’s heart” or something like that. An enlarged heart can result from decades of high intensity training, and with that you get a lower resting heart rate. One random arrythmia for a person with a resting HR of 80 is nothing, but can be a big deal if your resting HR is 35… Also a ton of people have heart defects that aren’t noticeable in 99.99% of cases and they may live 100 years without a diagnosis. But put that same person in the Alps on a bike and it becomes quickly evident!
training through sickness can lead to infections getting into your heart when they wouldn’t in ordinary people
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Don’t try to draw any conclusions over Stadler’s recent surgery until more information is forthcoming.
Heart conditions are not exclusive to elite athletes. Some congenital heart defects have absolutely nothing to do with what kind of physical condition you’re in or your lifestyle; it’s just the roll of the genetic dice.
Mark
Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on why elite athletes end up with heart problems??? One would think that being in such phenomenal shape, one would avoid this type of thing.
Ironman is not a healthy pursuit. Ironman training is not a healthy pursuit. And at the elite level, it’s even less of a healthy pursuit. Elite sports, at virtually every level, are not “good” for you. The average lifespan of a typical NFL player is like 2/3 or less of the national average. Elite athletics put an enormous amount of stress on your body.
The quote from the former oldest man in the world, “I smoke, but not too much. I drink, but not too much. And I eat, but not too much.”
So, does that sound ANYTHING like the mentality of a typical Ironman athlete?
In order to be in “phenomenal shape,” you end up doing precisely the sorts of things that cause this type of thing.
The other thing, when talking about elite athletes IN GENERAL, is the potential impact of PEDs. TO BE CLEAR, I AM NOT ACCUSING ANYONE OF TAKING DRUGS. But drugs are a very real problem, to varying degrees, in virtually every sport. For science’s sake, they are talking about Tiger Woods taking PEDs to compete on the PGA… And when you start using PEDs to push your body even further beyond what it would “normally” be capable of, then the risks go up. Elite sport is hazardous enough without PEDs, and when PEDs are used, the risks go up even more.
I think that Monty can chime in on that point in particular.
I think that, for the most part, elites end up with heart problems for the same reasons that midpackers do. You just hear much more about it when a 8:00 IM guy has a heart problem than when a 12:00 guy has a problem.
Staddler and Tjorborn both had congenital problems. They could have been sitting on the couch for their whole life and still had the heart problems.
I was in Baptist Hospital (part of Wake Forest Univ) 4 weeks ago with an apparant heart attack. When they learned from my wife that I did tris, they treated me an anomaly. The head cardiologist is a marathoner. I asked him if they saw very many athletes in the cardiac unit. He replied “rarely, you are first in some time. My students will have fun with this one”. (glad I could bring some entertainment to them).
IMO, you just hear about the few athletes that have heart conditions but not the millions of regular folk that do.
Not to say anything about Stadler (except to wish him a speedy and full recovery), but in general blood doping drugs are known to cause heart problems. See, for example, “F.D.A. Urges Less Use of Anemia Drugs” from a couple of weeks back, the lead of which states:
Federal drug regulators said on Friday that three drugs that had been widely used to treat anemia in both kidney and cancer patients were so dangerous to the heart that doctors should consider avoiding the medicines altogether in some patients and using less of them in others.
Yea that study applies rollseyes. That is like saying people should not take penicillin because people with penicillin allergies may go into anaphylactic shock.
training through sickness can lead to infections getting into your heart when they wouldn’t in ordinary people
Mr Welch knows about that one.
I’m not seeing the exact procedure in the article, but sounds like he had an Aortic Conduit(new aortic arch and valve) which is almost always done to correct congenital defects. No I’m not a Dr., but I sold heart valves, grafts, mesh and…aortic conduits in my previous career. Unless living in a 3rd world nation this would be a known and tracked defect and fixed when the ascending aorta hits a certain size. Aneurysms are NOT something to mess with.
I grew up with an Atrial Septal Defect(hole b/t the atria)and it closed down to an acceptable size. I would imagine lots of people walk around with these defects and never know it.
i wonder if some of these valve defects in elite athletes aren’t really congenital.
or perhaps the genes that lead to those defects also lead to powerful hearts sometimes?
seems odd that torbjorn and stadler could both be such studs with bad valves in their hearts.
I remember being pretty surprised when Alberto Salazar had his heart attack too. Apparently he had a family history of heart disease, but he was still in pretty good shape when it happened.
i wonder if some of these valve defects in elite athletes aren’t really congenital.
or perhaps the genes that lead to those defects also lead to powerful hearts sometimes?
seems odd that torbjorn and stadler could both be such studs with bad valves in their hearts.
I think that, for the most part, elites end up with heart problems for the same reasons that midpackers do. You just hear much more about it when a 8:00 IM guy has a heart problem than when a 12:00 guy has a problem.
IMO, you just hear about the few athletes that have heart conditions but not the millions of regular folk that do.
Pretty much what I was thinking, too… Kinda like when some collegiate or HS ballplayer drops dead during some team conditioning drills, it makes national headlines, but 18-20 year-old guys die of random shit all the time and it doesn’t rate any mention outside their family and immediate area.
My heart is aching just thinking about this. I’m sorry heart I promise to train moderately and not abuse you and to only occasionally push your limits. I won’t ever skip sleep to workout, do to much interval training, to much volume, or train when I’d rather pass out again. I promise heart I will treat you well!!
i wonder if some of these valve defects in elite athletes aren’t really congenital.
or perhaps the genes that lead to those defects also lead to powerful hearts sometimes?
seems odd that torbjorn and stadler could both be such studs with bad valves in their hearts.
A Bicuspid Aortic Valve is congenital heart defect . Normally we have 3 leaflets to the valve. In a bicuspid valve 2 of the leaflets are in effect stuck together during their formation. This is not caused by racing IM’s. But it does put a stress on the heart. Possibly leading to an earlier diagnosis. The defect is asscioated with Aortic Root anomolies. This is not an acquired defect. It can occur in up to 2-4% of males.
They were studs until these defects caught up with them. Who know’s how much Cardiac Output they lost as a result of this unfortunate defect, but lose cardiac output they did.
How would one figure out they have this?
I have no medical background. But doesn’t it make sense that the training involved for an IM, especially year after year, causes organs to wear out more quickly? I don’t know Sadler situation. But don’t believe hardish IM training is all that healthy. This is independent of drugs.
I believe exercise in moderation would be the healthiest option. What would be interesting is hard IM training year after year compared to not getting any exercise at all. Which would you live the longest with everything else the same?