Marathon man ignores nature's warning
What is it about athletes that makes them want to ignore the hints the Grim Reaper sends their way? For instance: Why do race-car drivers all seem to want nothing more than to return to racing after a near-death crash? Why do some surfers want to "hang ten" again after getting chomped by a hungry shark? Cycle jumpers, rodeo riders, skiers, they've all got a death wish or something - and worst of all of them are those nutty marathoners.
I swear, I think the exercise does something to their brains. It must, because many of them claim running is like an addiction (seems to me more like a death wish), and I'm starting to believe them. Why? Because a lot of these so-called "health fanatics" are dropping dead of things like hyponatremia (water intoxication) and massive coronary events.
This is nothing new, either. The "Father" of the modern pavement-pounding movement, Jim Fixx - author of The Complete Book of Running, the bestselling 1977 tome that started the jogging craze - collapsed dead of a heart attack while running in 1984. He's not the only one, either. Every year in the country's major marathons, a certain number of participants suffer major health crises, among the most common of which are coronary events.
And this year's no different. According to an IBS inc. online news article, a 49-year-old man who purportedly runs five marathons a year collapsed of a massive heart attack shortly after starting the Los Angeles marathon back in March. After being rushed to the hospital in an unconscious state, he sustained emergency bypass surgery to save his life.
But upon waking, did he thank his lucky stars and swear off marathons forever? Of course not. Instead, he immediately began aggressively training to get his strength back so he could enter upcoming marathons in Boston, Sacramento, and New York.
What's even more tragic-ironic than this is the fact that his care-givers are rooting him on in his quest for death. One of them, a CEO at the medical facility that treated him, presented the man with a new pair of running shoes for his 50th birthday - which he celebrated in a hospital bed! According to the article, others involved in his treatment described his recovery as "incredible" and attribute it in no small part to his physical condition.
What a hoot - it was his physical conditioning that CAUSED his heart attack, not what saved him from it. And speaking of being saved from heart attacks…
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Juicy news about heart health
In the span of 2 weeks earlier this spring, a pair of exciting heart-health findings were revealed in several mainstream sources - including Yahoo.com. Is it a "dynamic duo" of new heart drugs (that's typically what the mainstream press would trumpet)? Nope…
It's a body of research supporting the benefits of a pair of tasty juices!
The first study reported - a joint effort by Italian and American researchers - concluded that a twice-daily glass of pomegranate juice reduced the progression of atherosclerosis in laboratory animals by AT LEAST 30%. Can you think of any drug that can claim this? Pomegranate juice is also a good source of vitamins and antioxidants.
In the second body of research to hit the news, a human trial of 40 men with high blood pressure, consumption of grape juice over an eight-week period correlated with a significant drop in BP. This bolsters the findings of other studies, including some American research that pinpointed the juice of the Concord grape as being a powerful anti-hypertensive - as well as an effective cholesterol lowering agent and inhibitor of atherosclerosis.
Hmmm. Sounds a lot like the benefits of another kind of grape juice - a slightly alcoholic kind - doesn't it?
Bottom line: Juice is good for you, just like Mom said. And don't forget about that glass of wine with dinner…
Exposing what's crass and tipping a glass,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
