"Sudden Deaths Of Older Athletes May Be Tied To Exercise"

[gh]

Headline in Maxwell-related story in SF Chron last Friday.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 5SKTC1.DTL

[tafnut]

I'm a dead man

Great . . . maybe he woulda/shoulda died much earlier but prolonged his life with exercise. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.

[Pego]

Re: I'm a dead man

Tafnut, the terms wellness and health are commonly interchanged while they have very little in common.

[tafnut]

Re: I'm a dead man

You lost me - does that mean I'm NOT a dead man?

[Pego]

Re: I'm a dead man

LOL. Which one is correct? I exercise, therefore I am healthy, - or - Because I am healthy I can be active (exercise). While each one has an element of truth, by-and-large the second statement is "truer".

[MJR]

Sudden deaths...

may also be tied to:

boredom
listening to Carol Lewis
old age
loss of hearing
waiting for sprinters to get into the blocks
lack of driving skills
Dubya stealing your retirement money

anything else....

;'>

[Cyril]

Re: I'm a dead man

>Tafnut, the terms wellness and health are commonly interchanged while they have
>very little in common.

Wellness and health are very closely related. Wellness is a more general term encompassing physical and psycholgical health but also dealing with a broader spectrum including emotional well-being, financial well-being, spiritual well-being among others.

The terms that are often used interchanably are fitness and health. While they are related being fit doesn't mean that you are healthy. And, it is possible to be health but not fit. For example, it is very possible to have very high blood pressure (unhealthy) and to be phsyically fit. It is also possible to be healthy (no physical problems) but to be very unfit - nonexerciser.

Many elite athletes are often competing with and extermely low body fat which isn't necessarily healthy (often they are more suseptible to illness) but is indiciative of a very high level of fitness.

I think the deaths of these individuals is probably due to other risk factors and is most likely congenital.

[Realist]

Re: I'm a dead man

It's all congenital. Karma is karma.

[MJD]

Re: I'm a dead man

"At the Group Health Centre, Dr. Lee was involved in a number of research projects, including one aimed at finding a gene that causes heart disease..."

http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/fu ... umber=6496

[oatkins]

Re:

From what I have observed, a good number of those who exercised and died too young may have lived years longer than they would have without exercise. An example. My father died suddenly of a heart attack at age 52. My brother died suddenly of a heart attack at age 53. Neither exercised. I have run all my life, am about to be 68 and have not had mine yet. At what age did Jim Fixx and Brian Maxwell's parents or siblings pass if they have done so?

[Pego]

Re: Re:

<a good number of those who exercised and died too young may have lived years longer than they would have without exercise>

Sounds good, but there is no empirical evidence to support this premise.

[oatkins]

Re: Re:

Correct.

[HRE]

Re: Re:

><a good number of those who exercised and died too young may have lived years
>longer than they would have without exercise>

Sounds good, but there is no
>empirical evidence to support this premise.

I can't think of a way that there ever could be.

[MJD]

Re: I'm a dead man

I think the deaths of these individuals is
>probably due to other risk factors and is most likely congenital.

Exactly right in this case:

""This is different. [Brian] was a very, very fit man, with a very fit heart that had a malfunction, a congenital defect. That is different.""

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/Art ... ry=maxwell

Don't blame the running. Blame the fact that the seriousness of the situation was underestimated.

[Pego]

Re: I'm a dead man

< a close friend said that while Mr. Maxwell had a genetic heart problem>

This is pretty much a meaningless info. Even a benign, incidental heart murmur could be considered "a genetic heart problem" causing no harm ever. If he had a significant congenital cardiac anomaly, he would not have been able to run those marathons. I suspect he had a coronary that the family and friends just don't want to admit.