More Info on Death by Exercise

[blubber]

Some food for thought.

Here's an article on death by exercise from Men's Health magazine:

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/artic...e999edbbbd201099edbbbd2010cfe793cd____&page=1

I learned about the article here:

http://www.arthurdevany.com/2007/12/death_by_exerci.html

This is what I get from the article:

Exercise is better for your health then no exercise.

Lifting Weights is less likely to cause death than running long distances.

Exercising too much can be worse than exercising too little.

Here are some interesting quotes:

"Once you get past the 75th percentile of physical activity--guys who exercise more than three-quarters of the population--protection against heart disease levels off. In fact, among the most active, it actually declines slightly, according to a review in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. In other words, the superactive are more likely to die than the merely active."

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"But you should work out frequently; many studies have shown that the overall amount of time you spend up and moving matters.

Some endurance exercise is fine, if you like it. Strength training is probably more than fine--it specifically prepares your body for the shock of sudden, strenuous exertion, such as shoveling snow, which is most likely to kill you if your body isn't ready for it."

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* One death per 17,000 men who exercise vigorously 1 to 19 minutes a week
* One death per 23,000 men who exercise vigorously 20 to 139 minutes a week
* One death per 13,000 men who exercise vigorously 140 or more minutes a week

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The Harvard Alumni Health Study found that heart-disease risk starts going down when you expend more than 500 calories a week and continues to decrease until you get to 2,000 calories a week. Then things level off--more exercise doesn't offer more protection.

 

[Punisha]

well im in the 1 in 13000 category though i daresay at 16 im prolly more at risk from many other things as supposedly... i have a strong healthy heart

 

[chess9]

It isn't the exercise that's killing these people as much as it is the lack of proper training fundamentals, hydration, and pre-screening.

Here are my view of the killers:

1. Training for a marathon when you are overweight, out of shape, and in a high risk group (family history of heart disease, for example). I see tons of fat guys out running in 90 degree weather.
2. Drinking TOO MUCH WATER during a marathon, triathlon, or other hard bike ride. Hyponatremia kills more athletes than dehydration, I believe.
3. Not stopping when it's time to stop. Regardless of what you are doing, the failure to listen to your body can be deadly.
4. Overdoing it. Meaning, regardless of conditions, you plod on. It's 90 degrees out, 70% humidity, and you feel fine, so you decide to do that 10 mile training run. And you aren't English.
5. And my all time favorite, is the weekend warrior who does too much too soon trying to recapture his youth. Middle aged males can be the absolute worst about listening to their bodies and being rational about exercise. I know this personally because I did it. But, I was lucky.

-Robert

 

[Kevin T]

Great find, Blubber. I had a professor tell me many years ago that pro athletes actually have a much shorter life span than the average peson. I wish I could remember the articles/authors he was speaking of. But pro athletes also fall into many high risk categories, ie., hard drinkers, partiers, multiple partners, drug abuse, performance-enhancing drug use, stimulants, etc. This study seems to look at the "average joe" hard-core athlete. Maybe we should all stick to yoga, tai chi, etc.

 

[mary fierce]

There have been many studies over the years in the geriatric medicine literature on extreme longevity, looking at not only surivival but degree of functional activity. There has been no indication that high levels of exercise correlate with living to 100, for example. Reasonable weight control and good genetics seem to be crucial factors, as does satisfaction with one's work.

 

[Leelord337]

 

[chess9]

I see my gym let you film.

Cute stuff. Thanks!

-Robert

 

[WildVolley]

I'm less sanguine than chess9 about the potential benefits of running a marathon or even seriously training for one. A marathon is such an extreme event that it is hard to believe that in any way it can be good for your health. The legend is that the first guy that ran one died, right?

During the course of a marathon, so much muscle fiber is damaged that it is hard to believe it is good for your health. The inflammation caused by all the damaged muscle tissue is probably hard on your heart.

Also, I think many of the best athletes become so addicted to training that many don't give their bodies proper time to rest and recover.

 

[Ano]

I'm less sanguine than chess9 about the potential benefits of running a marathon or even seriously training for one. A marathon is such an extreme event that it is hard to believe that in any way it can be good for your health. The legend is that the first guy that ran one died, right?

During the course of a marathon, so much muscle fiber is damaged that it is hard to believe it is good for your health. The inflammation caused by all the damaged muscle tissue is probably hard on your heart.

Also, I think many of the best athletes become so addicted to training that many don't give their bodies proper time to rest and recover.

One more thing, it has been found that Basal serum total Testosterone and free Testosterone concentrations were lower in elite endurance athletes.

Here are two studies :

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2003 Apr;89(2):198-201. Epub 2003 Feb 28.

Basal testicular testosterone production in endurance-trained men is suppressed.Hackney AC, Szczepanowska E, Viru AM.

Endocrine Section, Applied Physiology Laboratory, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. thackney@med.unc.edu

Research indicates that endurance-trained men have lower basal testosterone concentrations than age-matched sedentary control men. The physiological cause for this finding is uncertain.

Therefore, we examined the peripheral component in the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular (H-P-T) axis in endurance-trained men to determine if their basal testicular production of testosterone was compromised.

The study design was retrospective, with a case-control approach. Age-matched, trained (n=5, TRN) and sedentary control men (n=6, SED) were infused with gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) to induce testicular testosterone production via subsequent luteinizing hormone elevations.

Testosterone production rate was statistically analyzed with adjustments for confounding factors and compared between groups. The basal testosterone concentrations differed significantly between the TRN and SED groups [pooled mean values; 13.9 (3.0) nmol x l(-1) vs 23.4 (3.2) nmol x l(-1), P<0.05].

The testosterone production rate was significantly lower (approximately 20-30%; P<0.05) in the TRN men as compared with the SED men following GnRH infusion. It was concluded that the exogenous stimulated testicular production rate of endurance-trained men is suppressed. This finding may account, in part, for the lower circulating basal testosterone concentrations found in these men.

The present evidence supports the hypothesis that endurance exercise training induces a degree of peripheral adaptation (i.e., testicle) in the H-P-T axis. Whether this adaptation in the axis is a permanent or transient phenomenon in these men remains to be determined.

PMID: 12665985 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Horm Res. 2003;59(6):285-92.

Testosterone is significantly reduced in endurance athletes without impact on bone mineral density.

Maïmoun L, Lumbroso S, Manetta J, Paris F, Leroux JL, Sultan C.
Centre Propara, Montpellier, France. laurent.maimoun@oreka.fr

AIMS: To compare the basal plasma reproductive hormonal profile in three groups of athletes involved in different training programs, and to define the relationship between androgen level and bone mineral density (BMD) in male athletes.

METHODS: Basal serum total testosterone (TT), free androgen index (FAI), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), cortisol, cortisol to TT ratio, luteinizing hormone (LH), estrogen and BMD were evaluated in cyclists (CY; n = 11), triathletes (TR; n = 14) and swimmers (SW; n = 13) and compared with less active controls (n = 10).

RESULTS: TT and FAI levels were lower (p < 0.05) in CY and TR, whereas the ratio of cortisol to TT was increased in CY only (p < 0.05). No alteration in serum LH, SHBG, estrogen or cortisol concentration was observed. BMD was higher in the proximal femur in TR (p < 0.05). No BMD or hormonal differences were found in SW.

CONCLUSION: Only the endurance training of CY and TR induced androgen deficiency without apparent alteration of BMD. Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel

PMID: 12784093 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

[Ano]

Here's another one:

Acta Physiol Hung. 2005;92(2):121-37.

Testosterone and endurance exercise: development of the "exercise-hypogonadal male condition".

Hackney AC, Moore AW, Brownlee KK.

Department of Exercise & Sport Science, Endocrine Section, Applied Physiology Laboratory, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-8700, USA. ach@email.unc.edu

During the last 30 years a large number of research studies have been conducted examining reproductive endocrine dysfunction in exercising women.

The number of similar studies examining men is still relatively small. Nevertheless, an increasing amount of research studies in men indicate endurance exercise training has significant effects upon the major male reproductive hormone, testosterone, and the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis that regulates reproductive hormones.

This review article addresses one reproductive endocrine dysfunction found in exercising men, what has been deemed the "exercise-hypogonadal male condition".

Specifically, men with this condition exhibit basal (resting-state) free and total testosterone levels that are significantly and persistently reduced.

The exact physiological mechanism inducing the reduction of testosterone is currently unclear, but is postulated to be a dysfunction (or perhaps a readjustment) within the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular regulatory axis.

The time course for the development of the "exercise-hypogonadal condition" or the threshold of exercise training necessary to induce the condition remains unresolved.

The potential exists for these reduced testosterone levels within the exercise-hypogonadal male to disrupt and be detrimental to some anabolic or androgenic testosterone-dependent physiological processes.

Unfortunately, extremely few research studies have addressed whether such processes are affected, and thus findings are inconclusive.

Conversely, the alterations in testosterone levels brought about by endurance exercise training have the potential for cardiovascular protective effects and thus could be beneficial to the health of these men.

Current evidence suggests this condition is limited to men who have been persistently involved in chronic endurance exercise training for extended periods of time (i.e., years).

Many questions, however, regarding the male reproductive endocrine adaptive process to exercise and exercise training remain unanswered, necessitating the need for further research on this topic.
PMID: 16268050 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

 

[chess9]

I love the marathon. I've run about 30 of them, so I don't have an unbiased perspective. I do know my testosterone levels dropped very low two years ago when I was training 14-18 hours per week for Ironman USA. I had them tested.

I see no benefit in marathon training for tennis players, except possibly that you will be fresh as a daisy in the third set. You could do that on three 4 mile runs a week too.

-Robert

 

[chess9]

Oh, and I had my T levels tested in March of this year after I reduced my training load and they were 'high for my age', just average against the population of VA males, per my doc.

-Robert

 

[Ano]

Oh, and I had my T levels tested in March of this year after I reduced my training load and they were 'high for my age', just average against the population of VA males, per my doc.

-Robert

Good for you, mate!! Congrats!!

Keep up the good work.!

 

[ollinger]

Higher than expected testosterone level as one gets older is not exactly a blessing....increases risk of prostate cancer, and causes said cancer to spread (which is why many prostate cancer patients are put on testosterone-blocking drugs.)

 

[Leelord337]

I have heard of people passing out from too much exercise and that night when the person goes to sleep, (in science known as "body housekeeping mode" that person's body will actually adapt to working out and will become used to it.

 

[coach]

I know a lot of the above has been on testosterone but also there is a condition that Sports Illustrated did a big spread (early December) on Hypertropic Cardiomyopathy. It explains why all these guys die of heart attacks even though they are young and very fit - like the guy who died last month during the Olympic Marathon trials. here is the SI article: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/more/12/04/broken.hearts1210/index.html Here is another link to info on it from the Mayo Clinic website http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy/DS00948