This is why I don't exercise

[dhunter]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two men, both veteran law enforcement officers, suffered fatal heart attacks while running in Sunday's Los Angeles Marathon, marking the first deaths in the event since 1990, organizers said on Monday.
Los Angeles police detective Raul Reyna, 53, and retired Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy James Leone, 60, are believed to be the second and third contestants in the 21-year history of the L.A. Marathon to die during the 26.2-mile (40-km) race.
Marathon officials said the only other runner known to have died in the race was 59-year-old William McKinney, who suffered a heart attack 21 miles into the competition in 1990.
Reyna collapsed 3 miles into the race. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Leone was stricken less than 3 miles from the finish line and died at a local hospital, officials said.
A third man had a heart attack about seven blocks into the race but survived.
Sunday's race was won by Benson Cherono of Kenya, who crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 40 seconds to set a new course record. Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia was the women's winner with a time of 2 hours, 25 minutes, 10 seconds -- a course record for female runners.
She also won a $100,000 bonus as the first runner to cross the finish in a separate competition within the marathon, the Banco Popular Challenge, in which the women were given a 16-minute, 46-second head start.

[Toronto_Mike]

yes good excuse i'm sure you will be running a 40 KM race.

I'm pretty sure big_pimpin is going to drill you with his thoughts on running.

[Big Pimpin]

I hate running but don't have a choice. I damn sure won't run any 24mile marathon though.

I can do 5-6 but after that forget it.


BORING

[domafia]

Too many don't undertsand how much prep work you have to do to run a marathon. To get through it safely requires months of training to ramp up to that mileage.

I'm like BP though, once I hit the 6-7 mile mark I'm bored out of my mind. Would much rather stay at low miles and increase my speed than put my body through the hell of running that long. Injuries, chafing, dehydration - me thinks I'll pass.

[skippy]

Originally Posted by dhunter

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two men, both veteran law enforcement officers, suffered fatal heart attacks while running in Sunday's Los Angeles Marathon, marking the first deaths in the event since 1990, organizers said on Monday.
Los Angeles police detective Raul Reyna, 53, and retired Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy James Leone, 60, are believed to be the second and third contestants in the 21-year history of the L.A. Marathon to die during the 26.2-mile (40-km) race.
Marathon officials said the only other runner known to have died in the race was 59-year-old William McKinney, who suffered a heart attack 21 miles into the competition in 1990.
Reyna collapsed 3 miles into the race. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Leone was stricken less than 3 miles from the finish line and died at a local hospital, officials said.
A third man had a heart attack about seven blocks into the race but survived.
Sunday's race was won by Benson Cherono of Kenya, who crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 40 seconds to set a new course record. Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia was the women's winner with a time of 2 hours, 25 minutes, 10 seconds -- a course record for female runners.
She also won a $100,000 bonus as the first runner to cross the finish in a separate competition within the marathon, the Banco Popular Challenge, in which the women were given a 16-minute, 46-second head start.

I heard one guy died from shovelling snow the other day.
It happens.

[Big Pimpin]

Originally Posted by domafia

I'm like BP though, once I hit the 6-7 mile mark I'm bored out of my mind. Would much rather stay at low miles and increase my speed than put my body through the hell of running that long. Injuries, chafing, dehydration - me thinks I'll pass.

Exactly....I usally just do 3.5 miles in 30 minutes,that's enough for me,just trying to increase my speed now. Shit,I'm bored after about 30 seconds

[jaypasco]

the main thing is just eat healthy and run/walk atleast a mile a day

[dave nz]

What is a myocardial infarction (MI)?
Myocardial infarction (MI) is a heart attack. It occurs when there is a sudden, complete blockage of blood flow to a part of the heart.

How does it occur?
Myocardial infarction may occur at any time and often occurs without warning. As we grow older, our coronary arteries may become narrowed by the buildup of cholesterol plaque. When the arteries narrow, less blood can go through them, and less oxygen gets to the heart muscle. The process of narrowing is called atherosclerosis. The narrower the artery becomes, the more likely it is that a blood clot may form and block the artery completely, causing a heart attack. Sometimes sudden blockages can occur even in places where the artery was not narrow before.

A heart attack may occur when the heart muscle needs more oxygen than the blood vessels can provide. This might happen, for example, during hard exercise such as shoveling snow, or with a sudden increase in blood pressure. Less commonly, a heart attack can occur due to coronary spasm. Coronary spasm is a sudden and temporary narrowing of a small part of an artery that supplies blood to the heart. It may be caused by smoking or drugs such as cocaine.

Risk factors for heart disease include:

cigarette smoking
a family history of heart attack
diabetes
overweight
high blood pressure
high blood cholesterol
low HDL cholesterol (that is, too little "good" cholesterol)
stress
a lifestyle that does not include much physical activity.
Lack of blood and oxygen during a heart attack damages the heart muscle. Part of the heart muscle usually dies. However, if only a small amount of heart muscle dies, your odds of surviving and living normally afterward are good. Early treatment of heart attacks is the best way to improve your odds.

Heart attacks can cause death in several ways:

If too much muscle dies, the heart is not able to pump enough blood to the rest of the body.
Damage to the heart cells that regulate the heartbeat may cause fatal heart rhythm problems.
Sometimes, the heart muscle weakens and can tear as a result of the damage. This causes internal bleeding.
You are more likely to have a heart attack as you get older. Heart attacks are more likely to occur at a younger age in men than in women. Female hormones seem to help protect women until menopause, when the body produces less of these hormones. Heart disease is more likely to be correctly diagnosed in men and less likely to be suspected in women.

What are the symptoms?
You may feel pressure or pain in the middle of your chest. It may extend into your shoulder and arm or into your abdomen or jaw. The discomfort may be severe or may be fairly mild. (Some people think they have indigestion and do not get medical help as soon as they should.) If you think someone is having a heart attack, call 911 and get emergency care immediately. In severe cases, sudden death may occur.

Other typical symptoms that often occur with the chest pain are:

shortness of breath
sweating
nausea or vomiting
weakness or lightheadedness
paleness.
Women may have different heart attack symptoms than men. Women may have symptoms such as:

a burning sensation in the upper abdomen
lightheadedness
an upset stomach
sudden weakness or unexplained tiredness.
Because they may not feel the typical pain in the left side of their chest, many women may ignore symptoms of a heart attack.

How is it diagnosed?
Your health care provider examines you and asks about your immediate symptoms and your medical history. He or she may use the following tests:

A heart monitor can show abnormal heart rates or rhythms.
An ECG (electrocardiogram) measures and records the electrical activity of your heart. It gives early information about areas of heart muscle that are damaged.
Your blood oxygen level can be monitored by a sensor that is attached to your finger or ear.
Blood tests are used to find out whether the heart muscle has been damaged.
A chest x-ray can show abnormal heart size and signs of heart failure (poor pumping by the heart).
Doppler ultrasound (echocardiogram) is a type of scan used to examine your heart valves, muscles, and blood flow, and to look at how efficiently your heart is pumping.
A coronary angiogram (cardiac catheterization) is a special x-ray procedure in which dye is used to find out which blood vessel is blocked and how severely.
These tests may be done in the hospital or after you leave the hospital.

How is it treated?
Heart attacks require immediate hospital treatment. Medicines that dissolve the coronary artery blood clot are quickly given through a vein and by mouth. Your heart rhythm is monitored and possibly dangerous rhythms are treated promptly. Some people need a temporary heart pacemaker. You may stay in the hospital 2 to 6 days. For part of that time, you will probably be in a special intensive care unit for heart patients.

Your health care provider may use medicine to:

reduce your pain
stabilize your heart rhythm
make it easier for you to breathe
lower your blood pressure
prevent further damage to your heart
dissolve blood clots.
The exact treatment you receive depends on how you feel, how much heart muscle is damaged, and how much the arteries in your heart are blocked or narrowed. You will be started on beta-blocker drugs and aspirin, and possibly other medicines, to lessen the risk of another heart attack. In some cases, your health care provider may recommend balloon angioplasty or a stent to improve blood flow to the heart. This may mean a longer stay in the hospital.

You may have a low-level treadmill stress test before you leave the hospital. The results of this test will help your provider decide what treatments and exercise are best for you or may be needed in the future.

After a heart attack, it is important to begin a rehab program. This involves a closely watched and gradually increasing exercise program, as well as education about diet and other ways to improve your health and prevent more heart attacks in the future.

How can I take care of myself?
Follow the treatment plan your health care provider prescribes. In addition:

Eat healthy food that is low in fat and sodium.
Lose weight if you need to, and maintain the lower weight.
Exercise regularly, according to your provider's instructions.
If you smoke, quit.
Keep your cholesterol at a normal level.
Keep your blood pressure under control.
Follow your provider's instructions for medicine and follow-up appointments.
Talk with your provider about any questions or fears you may have.
Carry your medication with you and know how to take it properly. A list of the names and doses and instructions for taking each medicine can be helpful to have.
If you get chest pain, call 911. Immediate emergency care improves your chances of survival and of avoiding damage to your heart.

[dave nz]

How To Detect A Heart Attack

The first hour of a heart attack is known as the "golden hour." If you get help during that first hour, your chances of recovery are greatly improved. Yet many people hesitate to get help when they first experience symptoms. They're afraid of the embarrassment of going to the emergency room and finding that nothing is wrong. So, it is important that you know the symptoms that may indicate that a heart attack is in progress.

Many of the symptoms of heart attack can be brought on by digestive disturbances or other less serious conditions. But only sophisticated medical tests can determine for sure if you're having a heart attack. Heart attacks may vary from person to person, and from heart attack to heart attack. Women, for example, may experience "atypical' symptoms such as pain between the shoulder blades rather than crushing chest pain. This may result in them delaying seeking treatment. That is a great mistake.

Heart attack is one instance where getting treatment promptly can mean the difference between life and death. If you are in doubt, err on the side of being more cautious and go to the emergency room and get yourself checked. We will try to describe some of the most common characteristics of heart attack here. Before that we will introduce the other pain called angina which is often precursor to a heart attack.

Angina Pectoris or Angina

Angina pectoris is a precursor to a heart attack. Usually, what happens is this: During physical exertion, during stress or an emotionally charged situation, in cold weather or after a big meal, the heart beats faster. Heart requires more oxygenated blood flow to the heart muscle to maintain the beating. But if the channels by which the blood and oxygen flow to the heart are narrowed, not enough nutrients get to the heart muscle tissue. It suffers oxygen deficiency, and the heart tells you about this with a pain called angina pectoris.



The pain is quite distinct. It is described as: "a heavy, strangulating, suffocating experience-far more intense than anything like indigestion, chest wall injuries, pleurisy or spasms of the esophagus that you are familiar with. The pain may seem to start under the breastbone, on the left side of the chest, and sometimes radiates out to other places: throat, neck, jaw, left shoulder and arm and, occasionally, on to the right side.

Angina is an intense, scary episode. But with rest and calm (or by placing nitroglycerin or another kind of nitrate under the tongue), angina attacks usually go away in about 15 minutes or so. If they last longer than that, go to the hospital and have a thorough check up. Long-lasting angina attacks may be the prelude to heart attacks.

If you have never been diagnosed with heart disease but develop any of the following symptoms, consider the possibility that you have angina. Make an appointment with your doctor, and arrange for a cardiac screening as soon as possible.
Chest pain that comes with physical exertion and eases with rest.

Chest pain that is brought on by emotional stress.

New or unusual shortness of breath-if you suddenly find you're winded after climbing a flight of stairs when you used to be able to take the same flight of stairs in stride, for example.

Indigestion, particularly if indigestion is unusual for you, if it does not respond to antacids, or if you do not associate its occurrence with eating.



The statistics show that half of those with angina pectoris suffer sudden deaths, a third have heart attacks, and most victims are older men. And an estimated 350,000 new cases of angina occur each year.

Although you may not appreciate it when you are suffering from pain, angina itself is not bad. In fact it may be a blessing! Some doctors call angina "God's gift to humans" because many heart problems are silent, without symptoms, and go unnoticed until they become the cause of sudden death. Angina is an early warning sign that something is wrong. Its presence may help identify those at risk of heart attack so that you can seek proper medical treatment promptly.

Heart Attack

Dizziness can be an early symptom of heart attack

Cardiac chest pain is often vague, or dull, and may be described as a pressure or band-like sensation, squeezing, heaviness, or other discomfort.

Pain is Not Always a Symptom of Heart Attack

A heart attack often starts with mild symptoms that may not be painful. Many victims experience a tightness or squeezing sensation in the chest. Get emergency medical help immediately If you experience any of the following symptoms for two minutes or more:

Pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest.

Pain spreading to the shoulders, neck or arms.

Severe pain, sudden weakness, dizziness, fainting, sweating, nausea or shortness of breath.

For those with angina, any change in the frequency, duration or intensity of the attacks, or symptoms that don't respond to nitroglycerin.



Heart attacks frequently occur from 4:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M. due to higher adrenaline amounts released from the adrenal glands during the morning hours. Increased adrenaline in the bloodstream can contribute to the rupture of the plaque that causes the formation of the clot and the eventual heart attack.

Studies have found that, at least in northern regions, heart attacks may occur more often in the winter months.

Heart attacks do not usually happen during exercise, although exercise is commonly associated with exertional angina.

Approximately one quarter of all heart attacks are silent, without chest pain. In diabetics, the incidence of "silent" heart attacks may be much higher.

Typical Symptoms

The typical symptoms of a heart attack are similar to those of angina, but more severe and longer lasting. The victim feels a pain that is usually squeezing or burning or feels a terrible pressure in the middle of chest. This pain may also travel up to the neck, jaw, or shoulder or down the arm and into the back.

Sweating, dizziness, weakness, and shortness of breath often accompany the pain of a heart attack. If you have chest pain that lasts longer than 15 minutes and is not relieved by rest (or by a dose of nitroglycerin), get immediate medical attention.

Immediately after you call for medical help, chew and swallow an aspirin and drink a glass of water. (Don't take aspirin if you are allergic to aspirin.) Aspirin is known to thin the blood, which helps the heart get more blood if you are, indeed, having a heart attack.

In some cases, a heart attack may cause a sensation that feels like indigestion: you get a sick, aching feeling high in the middle of your abdomen. It can cause a feeling of great weakness, or a sense that you are about to faint. (Many of the people who had heart attacks thought that they had intestinal problem instead of associating it with a heart attack.)

Silent Heart Attack

Heart attacks can occur without any warning symptoms. These are called silent heart attacks. Some heart attacks may be associated with "atypical' symptoms, symptoms such as heartburn, nausea, or sudden light-headedness and sweating. These are more common in women, diabetics, and people older than 65.

The primary symptom of heart attack is a consistent deep, often severe, pain in the chest that can spread to the left arm, neck, jaw, or the area between the shoulder blades. The pain may be present for up to twelve hours.
Many people who have had heart attacks describe it as a heavy, substernal pressure that makes it feel as if the chest is being squeezed. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, and vomiting. Heart attack can also cause abnormal heartbeat rhythms called arrhythmias.


Heart Attack Pain Areas



If you're having a heart attack, you might feel:

Crushing pain in your chest that may spread to your left shoulder



Chest pain that may spread to your neck, jaws, and/or down your back



Deep, dull pain or a tight, heavy, or squeezing sensation beneath your breastbone



The pain may be just in your arms



It may be in your jaw



Or it may be in your back



Early signals of heart attack

Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing, or pain in the chest, usually lasting longer than two minutes

Pain radiating to the shoulders, neck, jaw, arms, or back

Dizziness, fainting, sweating, nausea, shortness of breath, or weakness


None of these symptoms assures that a heart attack is in progress, but the more symptoms you have, the more likely it is a heart attack.

Other Symptoms of Heart Attack

Chest pressure

Sweating

Jaw pain

Heartburn and/or indigestion

Arm pain (more commonly the left arm, but may be either)

Upper back pain

General malaise (vague feeling of illness)

Nausea

Shortness of breath

[mrwho]

A girl in my town died in a tanning bed not too long ago. They found her 1 hour later and discovered she had a heart attack.

[dave nz]

I'll add something here, heart attacks are actually LESS likely to happen during exercise (as a general rule)!

So don't use that as a cop out lol

[dhunter]

Originally Posted by dave nz

I'll add something here, heart attacks are actually LESS likely to happen during exercise (as a general rule)!

So don't use that as a cop out lol

I really do exercise about 4 times a week. I just said that to be funny.

[dave nz]

Yeah wasn't directed at you mate, just ribbing some of the couch potatoes here

[dhunter]

Originally Posted by dave nz

Yeah wasn't directed at you mate, just ribbing some of the couch potatoes here

lol