Sport Today

> Yesterday I had a Dept. of Transp. annual physical to keep my Merchant
> Marine license up to date, and almost failed.  On my ECG, I had
> "Marked Sinus Bradycardia" (aka: slow heart rate:42 bpm), Left Atrial
> Enlargement (aka athelete's heart).  The doctor had no clue why my
> heart was not "normal".... I also had a pulmonary function test, which
> showed narrowing of my lower bronchi (aka exercise induced asthma).
> The day before these tests, I did a 21 mile run in 19*F weather, which
> I am sure irritated my lungs.
> The bottom line is, the baseline for medical tests is drawn on
> overweight, sedentary people, and if you are not in that group, the
> medical community is baffled.
> The doctor suggested a treadmill stress test, and at that point, I
> produced a printout of my heart rate curve from the previous days
> workout. (Yes, I anticipated a problem with the reading of these
> tests.)  She changed her mind on the stress test.
> The nurse, doctor, and technician had no clue as to what changes
> intense exercise prompts in the human body.
> It is very dificult to find people in the medical community
> (chiropractors, orthopedics, doctors, endocrinologists, podiatrists,
> etc.) who know anything at all about fit ***s. (I am a 51 year old
> male.)
> M***of the story: De-train before you see a doctor.
> Standby for more.....*** and urine tests come back tomorrow.

>The nurse, doctor, and technician had no clue as to what changes
>intense exercise prompts in the human body.

>Yesterday I had a Dept. of Transp. annual physical to keep my Merchant
>Marine license up to date, and almost failed.  On my ECG, I had
>"Marked Sinus Bradycardia" (aka: slow heart rate:42 bpm), Left Atrial
>Enlargement (aka athelete's heart).  The doctor had no clue why my
>heart was not "normal".... I also had a pulmonary function test, which
>showed narrowing of my lower bronchi (aka exercise induced asthma).
>The day before these tests, I did a 21 mile run in 19*F weather, which
>I am sure irritated my lungs.
>The bottom line is, the baseline for medical tests is drawn on
>overweight, sedentary people, and if you are not in that group, the
>medical community is baffled.
>The doctor suggested a treadmill stress test, and at that point, I
>produced a printout of my heart rate curve from the previous days
>workout. (Yes, I anticipated a problem with the reading of these
>tests.)  She changed her mind on the stress test.
>The nurse, doctor, and technician had no clue as to what changes
>intense exercise prompts in the human body.
>It is very dificult to find people in the medical community
>(chiropractors, orthopedics, doctors, endocrinologists, podiatrists,
>etc.) who know anything at all about fit ***s. (I am a 51 year old
>male.)
>M***of the story: De-train before you see a doctor.
>Standby for more.....*** and urine tests come back tomorrow.

>Interesting,  when I have  my Merchant Marine physicals (unlimited
>Chief Engineer), they usually just check to make sure I can walk and
>talk.

>OTOH, I am getting my annual fit for diving physical in the morning.

>one year ago I weighed 50# more than I do now,

> I had high ***
>pressure and was boarder line diabetic.  I am now running 40 miles per
>week,  my heart rate is down to about 48 bpm,  

>I've been off the ***
>press meds since last summer.

>I am eager to see how this physical goes <G>

> Interesting,  when I have  my Merchant Marine physicals (unlimited
> Chief Engineer), they usually just check to make sure I can walk and
> talk.

> OTOH, I am getting my annual fit for diving physical in the morning.
> one year ago I weighed 50# more than I do now,  I had high ***
> pressure and was boarder line diabetic.  I am now running 40 miles per
> week,  my heart rate is down to about 48 bpm,  I've been off the ***
> press meds since last summer.

> I am eager to see how this physical goes <G>
> ------------------------------------

> >Yesterday I had a Dept. of Transp. annual physical to keep my Merchant
> >Marine license up to date, and almost failed.  On my ECG, I had
> >"Marked Sinus Bradycardia" (aka: slow heart rate:42 bpm), Left Atrial
> >Enlargement (aka athelete's heart).  The doctor had no clue why my
> >heart was not "normal".... I also had a pulmonary function test, which
> >showed narrowing of my lower bronchi (aka exercise induced asthma).
> >The day before these tests, I did a 21 mile run in 19*F weather, which
> >I am sure irritated my lungs.
> >The bottom line is, the baseline for medical tests is drawn on
> >overweight, sedentary people, and if you are not in that group, the
> >medical community is baffled.
> >The doctor suggested a treadmill stress test, and at that point, I
> >produced a printout of my heart rate curve from the previous days
> >workout. (Yes, I anticipated a problem with the reading of these
> >tests.)  She changed her mind on the stress test.
> >The nurse, doctor, and technician had no clue as to what changes
> >intense exercise prompts in the human body.
> >It is very dificult to find people in the medical community
> >(chiropractors, orthopedics, doctors, endocrinologists, podiatrists,
> >etc.) who know anything at all about fit ***s. (I am a 51 year old
> >male.)
> >M***of the story: De-train before you see a doctor.
> >Standby for more.....*** and urine tests come back tomorrow.

>Yesterday I had a Dept. of Transp. annual physical to keep my Merchant
>Marine license up to date, and almost failed.

>The bottom line is, the baseline for medical tests is drawn on
>overweight, sedentary people, and if you are not in that group, the
>medical community is baffled.

> >Yesterday I had a Dept. of Transp. annual physical to keep my Merchant
> >Marine license up to date, and almost failed.

> <misc. garbage snipped>
> It looks to me like you are the one who doesn't have a clue.

> but I've never had a problem with an a MD mistaking this
>because he knows that I'm an athlete.

>Doctors are like everyone else, there are good ones and bad ones.  I worked
>in
>a hospital and found one hell of a lot of a doctors are pure idiots, they
>can't
>comprehend simple english, have no common sense and no ethics but they want
>to
>be treated like God.

>They should make them put their grades on the wall,

> If I get sick I'd like to get the guy who made A's.

>Of
>course the same can be said for all the other vocations, lawyers, garbage
>men,
>professional gamblers, ***s,

> truck drivers and so on so I'm not
>discriminating against anyone.
>Whaddya think Bill????

>It is very dificult to find people in the medical community
>(chiropractors, orthopedics, doctors, endocrinologists, podiatrists,
>etc.) who know anything at all about fit ***s.

> >Yesterday I had a Dept. of Transp. annual physical to keep my Merchant
> >Marine license up to date, and almost failed.

> <misc. garbage snipped>

> >The bottom line is, the baseline for medical tests is drawn on
> >overweight, sedentary people, and if you are not in that group, the
> >medical community is baffled.

> It looks to me like you are the one who doesn't have a clue.  The athletic
> heart syndrome can be found in medical references--it IS in my Merck Manual.
> Mine says that bradycardia >30bpm does not require immediate treatment
> (provided that the patient is a rest), but it IS a warning flag (if the patient
> is not identified as an endurance athlete).

> If you are a runner, you should ALWAYS tell a physician in advance; This should
> be in your personal background information.  I compete in middle distances and
> coach sprints, and my RHR varies from about 50 down to about 38 (depending on
> training status), but I've never had a problem with an a MD mistaking this
> because he knows that I'm an athlete.

> Also, doing a 20+ mile run the day before a physical that could deny you a
> license is not very swift.  It is well established that a marathon can affect
> hormonal values for several days, and this can show up in a *** test.
> Whether your long run will do the same depends on how hard you run (and your
> training/overtraining status), but why would you take the risk?

> Lyndon