heart rate

"Doug Freese" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I had a stress test a few years ago and I could not get my heart rate
past 150 even at the highest elevation. Am I doomed to always be slow?

-DF

I don't think that test can detect your mental slowness, although it
is obvious to everyone here.

Hypothermia And You...
08/11/04"Come, on finish that pasty or we'll all end up with
hypothermia..." Yep, it's that time of year again, the nights are
closing in, temperatures are dropping etc, ad nauseum. But what exactly
is hypothermia, how do you spot it, what should you do if you get it and
how should you avoid it in the first place?
What is hypothermia?
Pay attention now, hypopthermia, also known as 'exposure' is technically
when your core body temperature drops below the normal 35 degrees
centigrade, your normal body temperature is 37C. It happens when the
amount of heat you're losing can't be replaced by your body, so your
body temperature falls. The results are serious and can be fatal, one
text book lists a drop of 4C as causing disorientation, 7C leaves you in
a coma and a drop of 10C can be fatal.
So in very simple terms, it's a fall in body temperature cause because
you're losing more heat than you can produce. It's not just feeling 'a
bit cold', though that can be the start of it.
Spotting the symptons
Assuming you're not walking around with a thermometer permanently up
your butt, you need to be aware of possible signs that you, or your
mates are going hypothermic. Bear in mind that it's not always easy to
spot, particularly early on, but watch out for:
clumsiness - might look like drunkeness
disorientation
sudden bursts of energy
exhaustion
Classically a quick test is to ask the suspected victim to do some quick
mental arithmatic as a check on their mental function. Exhaustion and
hypothermia go hand in hand by the way, if you're very tired, your
metabolism slows, you don't kick out enough body heat, you become
hypothermic...
Treating Hypothermia
Stop and take stock. It's essential that you don't push on regardless
unless safety is very, very near. If the symptoms are mild, putting the
casualty in some sort of shelter, adding dry, warm clothes and, in
particular, a hat, and feeding them warm hot drinks and food may be
enough.
If things don't improve, put the casualty in a sleeping bag and insulate
them from the cold ground with a sleeping mat.
Recent research suggests that body to body warming can actually be
counter-productive since pooled acidic blood in the muscles is warmed
too quickly, reaches the heart and can cause cardiac arrest.
Heat packs placed at the victims armpits and groin are a better way of
raising the core body temperature without risking shock as are a warm
drink or soup if the victim is conscious.
Do not give the victim alcohol or coffee since both can cause heat loss.
Do not allow the victim to fall asleep.
Treat the victim gently, in severe cases of hypothermia, rough handling
can cause a chilled heart muscle to arrest.
Even when the victim has apparently recovered, they mustn't be allowed
to continue the hike. Instead, call or fetch help and, if possible, get
them evacuated from the hill so they can receive professional treatment.
Avoiding Hypothermia
The best solution to hypothermia is to avoid it in the first place,
which is doubly important when youre on your own, since disorientation
makes the condition hard to spot.
Where correct and sufficient clothing. Wind chill and damp are both your
enemy since both accelerate heat loss from the body, so wind and
water-proof clothing and insulation layers are crucial.
Cover your head - you lose a lot of heat through your noggin, while the
body will restrict blood flow to, say, your feet, your brain needs a
blood supply to function, so the stuff is always flowing up there. A
warm, windproof hat will make a big difference. Carry a spare too, it's
stupid dying because you dropped your hat...
Eat high energy foods regularly as you go - your body is like an engine
and if you don't fuel it, it'll stop running and stop producing heat.
Don't be over ambitious - tired walklers and climbers are far more
likely to get hypothermia, so be realistic about your day - if it's cold
and wet or very windy, consider shortening your route or maybe
cancelling altogether. If you're a little unfit, don't push yourself too
hard.
Kit To Carry
Particularly if you're part of a group, carrying the right kit can make
the difference between life and death. If you're backpacking, then
you'll have most of what you need to survive already so...
Your brain - no joke, pressing on regardless is what kills many
hypothermia victims. Having the presence of mind to realise that you
have a problem and need to deal with it is crucial, but difficult.
Spare warm clothing and a sleeping bag / down jacket can be crucial in
minimising heat loss in the victim. Bear in mind that other members of
the group will also need warm clothing once you stop. Hats are crucial.
An emergency shelter or bivvy bag - crucial to getting the victim out of
the wind. Group survival shelters are excellent and can also be used for
sheltered lunch stops and allow you to pool body heat.|
A sleeping or bivvy mat - ideally you want to insulate the casualty from
cold ground, if you don't have these, improvise using a pack and / or
spare clothing.
Stove, drinks and food. A lightweight stove and some soup or hot drinks
are a good move and you should always carry emergency, high energy food
as a back-up measure.
Heat pads - exothermic warming pads are a better way of warming a
casualty than body contact. Well worth adding to a group kit list.
We're not saying that you have to carry all of these in winter, but they
could make the difference between a minor scare and a fatality, so,
particularly if you're part of a group, think about sharing the above
out between you.
And Finally...
Hypothermia's not just for winter, it's perfectly possible to cop it in
spring or autumn, or even in summer, so let's be careful out there.

"Doug Freese" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I had a stress test a few years ago and I could not get my heart rate
past 150 even at the highest elevation. Am I doomed to always be slow?

I dunno. What a silly question.

Next time I have sex I'm going to wear my Polar just to see if the
'sex-is-as-good-as-running' myth is true. I sometimes go dizzy at the
point of ****** so maybe it is, 'cause I rarely go dizzy when running, but
then I don't have someone playing with my naughty bits as I run...

Quoted message said:

but
then I don't have someone playing with my naughty bits as I run...

Except yourself of course.

Pam,
Please take a second opinion. I am not an expert, but this souns so weird.

"pam_in_sc" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

der gerauif said:

I am 53 years old male and my heart rate easily goes over 170 when I do
a run of more than 1 hour. I run regularly since a quarter of a century,
and I don't think there has been much change in my HR (not sure, though).
On the other hand things must be changing when you get older. The
official recommendations usually include rules of thumb that indicate
that at my age my HR should stay below 155 or so, implying that I just
shouldn't run anymore, just jog. My HR is regular and when I really try I
can get it to 190. When would you guys start worrying?

[censored]

I've been lurking, thinking I might get help here on pretty much the same
question. I did post my question on a group where I am a regular:
rec.bicycles.misc. If you do a google groups search on high maximum heart
rate you will find this topic comes up on many different groups and there
are quite a lot of people out there with maximum heart rates unusually
high for their age.

I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a year ago and was determined to
control it with diet and excercise. I gradually increased my exercise
beyond the walking (with hills) I've done for years. By last May I tried
running, but a hip problem came up, so I took up bicycling for the first
time since college. The bicycling works wonderfully for me--I did a 62
mile organized ride in early October. I'm still trying to build up the
running very slowly, hoping to be able to do a sprint triathlon next May
in honor of my 50th birthday.

I bought a heart rate monitor a month or so ago, thinking that it would
encourage me and help me keep up my effort on the bike. I went and rode up
the steepest longest hill I have successfully ridden. I was mind-boggled
that my heart rate hit 195. I was puffing harder and harder but I could
keep riding. I did a little research and satisfied myself that it is
normal variation. See particularly
http://www.athletictrainingservices.com/MHR.htm

But I told my doctor about it the next time I saw her, and she said that I
should have it checked out, as heart disease can have no symptoms,
particularly in women. She sent me to a cardiologist with a diagnosis of
tachycardia (though my resting heart rate is 60). The cardiologist said
I should have a stress test and an echocardiogram. I did the stress test
this past Thursday (if you do it make sure that your doctor writes on the
order to let your heart rate go high--otherwise they stop you when you
reach the maximum for your age). I felt great--at a heart rate of 191 I
was by no means out of breath and was eager to keep going. But the doctor
monitoring the test insisted that I stop because an abnormality had showed
up in the EKG when my heart rate went above 170. The abnormality was that
the ST part of the wave dropped down below the isoelectrical level, which
can be a sign of a partial blockage. Other people have that abnormality
when nothing at all is wrong. The cardiologist wants me to have a heart
catheterization to check for a partial blockage, and I incline to go ahead
and do it (some friends are saying get a second opinion and maybe a less
invasive test, but I think I need maximum information if I want to
continue high intensity exercise). I've always had very good cholesterol
numbers and have no family history of heart disease so I find it hard to
believe I could have a blockage, but I want to know for sure.

I asked the cardiologist whether if the catheterization shows no problems
he would still be concerned about my high maximum heart rate. He said he
would be, and would want to give me medication to lower it. I think he is
wrong in that, and I will find a cardiologist who specializes in athletes
(anyone know one in Atlanta?) before considering medication. In the
meantime, I very much would like to find medical articles that discuss
normal variation in maximum heart rate to show the cardiologist. Telling
him that I have seen a lot of people on the internet who have high maximum
heart rates isn't going to get me very far. I've done some searching on
pubmed without any luck so far--if anyone knows any such articles I would
very much like references.

I'm still in the middle of my story--the catheterization is scheduled in a
week and a half. What I can tell you so far, is that doctors, at least
the ones I've seen, do see it as something that ought to be checked out,
even in the absence of any chest pain or other symptoms. I've come down in
an awkward middle place--I think the high maximum heart rate can be a
normal variation and the doctors are wrong to see it as a problem by
itself, but I also want to keep getting checked out until the doctors are
satisfied that there isn't something else wrong.

Pam

"Doug Freese" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I had a stress test a few years ago and I could not get my heart rate
past 150 even at the highest elevation. Am I doomed to always be slow?

Your best days are ahead of you ;-)

I suspect that very few of the wags here will beat your 5k and 10k times at
age 50.

Of course, what really matters, above all other things is the critical
heartbeats per mile statistic. Maybe Donovan can cook up some stats on that
one...

You've got them all beat there.

-- Dan

Quoted message said:

Your best days are ahead of you

That's true, by the time he's 97 he'll be running the speed of his age group.