With all of the deaths recently, I started googling and found that the medical director of the NYC marathon is advising everyone to take a baby aspirin prior to running. The science is proven and it costs pennies. The side effects are there for those that take one every day but not on event day. Perhaps everyone doing a Tri should do the same.
http://abcnews.go.com/.../t/story?id=15000378
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-11-01/news/30347967_1_lewis-g-maharam-sudden-death-caffeine
Here is the link from one of the sources:
http://aimsworldrunning.org/articles/IMMDA_Sudden_death_and_how_to_avoid_it_3.20.10.pdf
It seems to be aimed at runners and the finish line, but I still think there are things to learn from it.
I suspect that max risk for runners is at the finish line, due to maximum adrenaline stress. For some triathletes, it is easy for me to suspect a maximum adrenaline stress during the swim.
Anyway, some of the major recommendations make a lot of sense.
With all of the deaths recently, I started googling and found that the medical director of the NYC marathon is advising everyone to take a baby aspirin prior to running. The science is proven and it costs pennies. The side effects are there for those that take one every day but not on event day. Perhaps everyone doing a Tri should do the same.
http://abcnews.go.com/.../t/story?id=15000378
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-11-01/news/30347967_1_lewis-g-maharam-sudden-death-caffeine
what about these? Doubt there’s much of a difference.
If you treat these deaths as unavoidable you’re putting your hobby at risk. Any time the government wants to pull the plug on the sport they can. All of the headlines about the Ironman in all of my local papers (NYC) were about the death. Less than 3,000 people did the event and someone died. If the deaths don’t lessen, don’t be surprised when the authorities say no more Ironman 70.3 and Ironman events. There have been two MMA deaths in a decade. It seems like I’ve heard about a dozen Tri deaths this year.
what about these? Doubt there’s much of a difference.
Are you trying to be humurous, or are you trying to discredit jamesgolstein’s post and/or the linked articles?
Edited to add: I am assuming you noticed and are aware of the differences between children’s aspirin and children’s multivitamins.
I hope that you at least consider the opinions and inexpensive actionable suggestions presented by a medical group that has studied deaths in endurance runners.
With all of the deaths recently, I started googling and found that the medical director of the NYC marathon is advising everyone to take a baby aspirin prior to running. The science is proven and it costs pennies. The side effects are there for those that take one every day but not on event day. Perhaps everyone doing a Tri should do the same.
http://abcnews.go.com/.../t/story?id=15000378
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-11-01/news/30347967_1_lewis-g-maharam-sudden-death-caffeine
what about these? Doubt there’s much of a difference.
One is aspirin, the other is a vitamin supplement. I’m guessing that there is, in fact, a pretty big difference between the two.
what about these? Doubt there’s much of a difference.
Are you trying to be humurous, or are you trying to discredit jamesgolstein’s post and/or the linked articles?
Edited to add: I am assuming you noticed and are aware of the differences between children’s aspirin and children’s multivitamins.
I hope that you at least consider the opinions and inexpensive actionable suggestions presented by a medical group that has studied deaths in endurance runners.
What can be in baby aspirin? Nothing too potent.
If anything, I would be curious about a study that looked at these vitamins.
That is one VERY stupid recommendation…
Post: That is one VERY stupid recommendation
x2
Dave
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What can be in baby aspirin? Nothing too potent.
If anything, I would be curious about a study that looked at these vitamins.
Ummmm…aspirin would be in them. Long known as a blood thinner that can reduce clotting in the bloodstream. Look up “Daily Baby Aspirin Therapy” or something like that and I am quite certain you will find that baby aspirin has been prescribed to millions of people to reduce or prevent heart attacks.
I am curious to see why some people think one baby aspirin before a race would be a stupid recommendation. I am not connecting the dots on that.
Because there is a fair amount of evidence that some of these deaths are related to swimming-induced pulmonary edema, rather than some
underlying heart pathology. And aspirin and pulmonary edemas aren’t exactly best friends.
Okay, thanks.
The article was talking about deaths at the end of marathons and the suggestion was to take 80mg of aspirin before the marathon.
I’m still curious why it’s bad advice for a marathon.
Because I was answering the OP about extending a commonly accepted medical practice, which makes sense for a marathon (to some extent)
to triathlon, where it not only doesn’t make sense, but is just dangerous.
Because there is a fair amount of evidence that some of these deaths are related to swimming-induced pulmonary edema, rather than some
underlying heart pathology. And aspirin and pulmonary edemas aren’t exactly best friends.
I don’t know that a single baby aspirin is going to thin your blood enough to cause SIPE. As someone who is on coumadin / warfarin for life, I tried desperately to get my docs to put me on low-dose aspirin instead. They said ti wouldn’t come close to raising my INR high enough for therapeutic use.
Now, at what level you begin to approach a higher-risk of SIPE, I don’t know. I suppose it is possible that baby aspirin could get you near (?) that level, but overall, my understanding is that it doesn’t have any massive impact on your INR. For reference, a normal INR level is ~1.0 (.8 - 1.2 is considered “normal”, I believe.) A normal therapeutic level is between 2 & 3…my doctors try and keep me around 2.5, if possible. I take 2-3 mg per day of warfariin to achieve this.
I’d love to hear any insights on this, especially as, on paper at least, I would be at a higher risk of SIPE than most people.
My mistake, I just read the article not the original post.
You’re not looking at it the right way.
The premise is to use aspirin to prevent deaths in tri, in swimming (since the immense majority of tri-related deaths are in swimming).
There is a fair amount of evidence that shows that it is SIPE induced. Not everyone get SIPE. Just those predisposed to. So, if we now
suggest hey, take aspirin, you’re not doing anything for those not at risk, but you’re endangering those at risk, even more.
You can look at the wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/...uced_pulmonary_edema and our paper (the first link in the wiki).
For the record, there is plenty of evidence showing PE even within normal therapeutic use of aspirin (for patients at risk). Thus my comment
about this being a stupid recommendation.
You’re not looking at it the right way.
The premise is to use aspirin to prevent deaths in tri, in swimming (since the immense majority of tri-related deaths are in swimming).
There is a fair amount of evidence that shows that it is SIPE induced. Not everyone get SIPE. Just those predisposed to. So, if we now
suggest hey, take aspirin, you’re not doing anything for those not at risk, but you’re endangering those at risk, even more.
You can look at the wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/...uced_pulmonary_edema and our paper (the first link in the wiki).
OK, could only read the abstract, but if I am (now) following you correctly, you are saying that if SIPE is the major cause of swim-related tri deaths. Those individuals are predisposed to SIPE based on other conditions (hypertension, taking fish oil, etc) and baby asprin does nothing to affect those factors. Got it.
The Wiki page notes baby aspirin as a possible contributing factor, but your paper only mentions fish oil. Can you elaborate on that a bit? Also, why would baby aspirin increase the risk of SIPE, but not coumadin / warfarin?
Last question - if SIPE was the major cause of swim-related tri deaths, why is it not showing up in autopsies? Wouldn’t that leave some pretty tell-tale signs?
Reference : Long known as a blood thinner that can reduce clotting in the bloodstream.
This statement and advice offered by doctors is a little bit conflicting especially to people who are not involved in having to take blood thinners.
Just to give you my story, I took baby aspirin for years just because along with fish oil etc. thinking it was doing my heart good and keeping my blood thin. Can you imagine how surprised I was back in February to find out I had a massive DVT in my leg from the groin to ankle and had been throwing blood clots into my lungs for 3 months, as most of the doctors said at hospital they couldn’t understand why I wasn’t dead for it to have been going on for over 3 months, I was then tested for clotting factors and all came back negative, so why it happened is anyone’s guess. Now when I said do I really need to go on blood thinner Coumadin can’t I just take aspirin they looked at me and just said aspirin does not thin the blood that way to prevent clotting. I don’t remember the technical whys but they explained the reasons but it certainly was quite shocking to realize it does not prevenet clotting
So please don’t think taking aspirin you are not going to have blood clots, if your body for whatever reason is going to make them all the aspirin in the world isn’t going to prevent them. Cheers LA Rob
I’m having a hard time seeing how a single dose of baby aspirin would prevent anything. Now, taken once a day chronically, sure, but 81mg taken as a single dose? Not sure there’s a benefit there.
That’s not to mention that even if there were some benefit it would only be for heart attack prevention, and many of the “sudden” cardiac deaths are from dysrhythmias.