Athlete's Heart Risks: Fact or Fiction (Dr. Barry Braun and Nate Bachman) - #048


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Sep 02 2019 51 mins   1
There have been plenty of headlines over the years about the supposed dangers of endurance sports. Starting back in 1984 when Jim Fixx, the author of The Complete Book of Running died of a heart attack in his mid-50's, the suspicions about the supposed dangers of endurance sports have made for great headlines. What doesn't generally hit the news is the full story (e.g., that Fixx was a life-long smoker and his father died of a 2nd heart attack in his early 40's). But the fears are legitimate. Many of us have friends who are incredible athletes who have experienced heart issues, the dramatic headlines continue, and physicians, without exact answers to the question "what should I do," often defer to the (understandably) conservative answer of "stop." Fortunately, the research community is beginning to take a deeper dive into this issue. They are looking at whether these heart issues are anomalies or cause and effect. On this week's episode, we were extremely fortunate to have two of the researchers who recently completed a study looking at the heart risk in long-time, serious endurance athletes. Their findings may surprise you - and they're likely to add a critical piece to this puzzle around the athlete's heart risk