Is running bad for the heart?

To the OP and anyone else, if you really are concerned about developing a heart-attack while running talk to your physician about a nitroglycerin prescription so that you can carry tabs with you while you run or leave them in your car if you park and run. They should only provide them for you in the case that you are at risk for a heart-attack, but they could save your life in the case that you have one.

Just read that some fit guy who has run many marathons died of heart attack.

if an airline pilot died of a heart attack would you conclude that flying is bad for your heart?

cheers.

Running too much is bad for the heart (moderate exercise is great for it). Stick to the 5k /10k scene and avoid the marathon and ultra scene (which also carry a higher risk of stroke and other maladies). Not only will it help your heart, it will give you time to pursue other activities.

1955 wrote:

I am a life-long runner who had a heart attack last year, despite good cholesterol levels, no family history, etc. Nothing could have surprised me more, and I very seriously considered giving running up.

Since then, I have seen some of the studies suggested that vigorous exercise can elevate risk of heart attack, which actually made me feel little better about why it might have happened. Still, I keep in mind that my cardiologist and my hematologist were clear about one prescription for me: keep moving.

Not doing as many miles as I used to, but I'm still running.

It's unclear to me what your cardiologist is saying; keep moving as in walking or back to running? What kind of miles were you doing pre-heart attack vs post? Any speed work or higher intensity stuff?

Does your cardiologist think it's the more vigorous aspect of running or just plain jogging that can cause cardiovascular problems?

No matter what you do. Eventually I will take you. Bwaaahahaha.

The Grim Reaper wrote:

No matter what you do. Eventually I will take you. Bwaaahahaha.

I want to come in your arms as late as possible.

joedirt wrote:

Running too much is bad for the heart (moderate exercise is great for it). Stick to the 5k /10k scene and avoid the marathon and ultra scene (which also carry a higher risk of stroke and other maladies). Not only will it help your heart, it will give you time to pursue other activities.

So many middle-agers are into the marathon scene. And these days if you're not running a marathon at least once a year, people don't even consider you a runner.

The more you exercise, up to 90 min/day, the longer you live. No data beyond 90 minutes (hard to find people who exercise more than 90 min/day).

Lifelong endurance athletes are at a higher risk of A-fib.. But it's not a crazy difference. I think the average person has something like a 1 or 2% risk, endurance athletes end up with a 10% risk. Some have to get surgery.

I think the reason for all the hubbub about this is that people are blown away that someone can go run for an hour plus a day and still have an unhealthy heart. Running doesn't CORRECT for bad genes/a bad diet. It improves lifespan if the alternative is sitting on a couch.

Piano_Man87 wrote:

I think the reason for all the hubbub about this is that people are blown away that someone can go run for an hour plus a day and still have an unhealthy heart. Running doesn't CORRECT for bad genes/a bad diet. It improves lifespan if the alternative is sitting on a couch.

I rather be fit and live longer. So say instead of running 100km a week if 50km a week = longer healthy life then I prefer running 50km a week.

It is beside the point that I would actually prefer 100km per week ;-(

All of my doctors (3/4 still living) over the years have told me flat out to keep running the way I do for the rest of my life. My heart suffered from rheumatic fever and a damaged valve in my youth. One Dr. said the running had done more for me than anything modern medicine could do. The only change I notice 60 years later is a loss of pure strength, but I just don't push the weights any more.

The main thing is it's definitely not clear. There seems to be a solid correlation between hard training and AFIB. Roughly a fivefold increase in lifetime AFIB risk for serious endurance athletes (I think this was greater than 7hrs/wk if I remember correctly). On the plus side, AFIB is rarely fatal and ability to ablate and have more permanent treatments is improving.

Running, especially hard running, IS dangerous for those with certain heart conditions such as Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and a few other conduction problems. Running hard also becomes dangerous if your coronary condition is bad and you're dealing with ischemia in which case that harder exertion can push you over the limit and result in a heart attack.

The next correlation is between running the the non-electrical side of the heart. I.e. arterial health, heart strength, etc. I haven't seen anything here that suggests running isn't helpful, or that hard training is bad provided your heart and arteries are healthy enough to handle the stress, i.e. no pre-existing CAD.

Electrically seems to be the bigger issue. The predominate theory is that consistent, hard training leads to scarring of the heart and that this scar tissue is more prone to conduction of aberrant electrical impulses that can be an arrthymogenic substrate. AFIB as mentioned is the strongest, most well known correlation. It may lead to others but that isn't really established.

no, i am aerobically stronger than you and you can't catch me.

I had a heart attack at 58 (3 years ago) due to blockages in the LAD. I am a 30+ year runner, no smoking or drinking. Do have a family history of heart disease. My cardiologist likes that I still run, doing maybe 40-50mpw mostly very easy. I was prescribed nitroglycerin tabs and I used to carry them everywhere but have gotten out of the habit. Thanks for the reminder to restart this.

It’s all a ploy to get people to stop exercising, get fat, and be dependent on fatty foods and sedentary lifestyle.

How many of the fellas here are talking viagra? Probably a sign of heart disease.

An hour a day of exercise is good enough, and any longer is probably only because you are not making optimal use of that exercise time.

For running alone, 3-4 hours a week is the point of diminishing health returns and increasing injury risk.

What is this appropriate "blood work"? No scan?

I've seen theories that long, hard efforts might be damaging in older people, since the body's antioxidant system becomes less effective and your arteries are exposed to more free radicals as a result. My takeaway, it would probably be smart to tone back on races over an hour as a master, but shorter stuff should still be good.

Also keep in mind other risk factors that are probably more important in protecting your heart -- controlling blood pressure, limiting heavy drinking, diet etc. Most of these also reduce your risk of A-Fib.

Running would tautologically seem to be a better state for the heart as a non-running heart would by definition be dead.