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Main
Date: 15 Dec 2006 20:54:00
From: mike e
Subject: heart report after echocardiogram
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hello, i am 48/m in good health,.I have been back into' regular running
for the past year and lost 20-25 lbs. i was encouraged to get
exercising again to try and lower cholesterol and, with perserverance,
got into my normal weight range for my 5'8" height with at least 3-4
days of running a week for 8-10 months or so.
When i had a physical a few weeks ago my doctor said the EKG indicated
heart stroke was larger than that of my EKG from my year-ago
physical...which he said was likely a reflection of the exercise but
suggested an echo-gram to look closer.
Today i called and the result of that test were said to reveal a mild
'wall abnormality.' and my doctor
advised to see him next week - earliest appt time being Thursday. I
have frankly been a mental mess
over this and am hopeful there is nothing major to be concerned about.
I have heard of athlete heart, and
since i am not feeling overexertion with running, i am curious as to
the test result. Having this hang over
my head waiting to learn more is driving me nuts. I talked to the doc
and he suggested that i'd likely need
a stress test to investigate this more closely.. and advised i 'take it
easy' with exercise til i come in...
Since im sure that won't be able to be scheduled til at least week or
two away, i am not feeling as if my vacation will be very relaxing,
I know something of the Athletic Heart and wonder if this test could
still in fact reflect a normal condition of my heart adapting to
regular activity.
I know this is not a medical board but i guess i'm just looking for any
support from anyone who can relate
with similar experience... thanks much for your time and thoughts.
Mike
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Date: 16 Dec 2006 08:28:54
From: mike e
Subject: Re: heart report after echocardiogram
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thanks for the spiral CT note. -
well, the worry factor is definitely weighing heavily on me this
weekend... i never
would have conceived of this when i started the exercise back at the
start of the
year... or that one year of relatively "low-mileage"conditioning could
cause -whatever
this actually is. Most of the problem for me is having to wait to see
someone for
a week to just discuss what will probably mean scheduling a stress test
- and not being
able to do it or learn anything til after a long-planned vacation.
Slightly distracting
for me but i appreciate your sentiments and hopefully, not a big
deal....
Mark Hutchinson wrote:
> "Al Bundy" <MSfortune@mcpmail.com> wrote
>
> > You'd think heart doctors would be aware of changes that take
> > place when a person gets into condition. Sometimes they don't
> > seem to or at least will never take a chance than a change is
> > not due to something serious. Heart wall thickening could be
> > interpreted as disease or it could be from strengthening. I have
> > two athletic friends with diagnosed heart problems. The one
> > woman has atypical thinning of the heart wall, which her father
> > at 90 also has. It probably is genetic. The other lady is a
> > great runner and has an abnormal EKG, which the doctor suspects
> > was caused by stress over a long term family situation.
> > If I had insurance I'd let the doctor check what he wanted, but
> > I wouldn't let it stop me from exercising. Maybe ask him to give
> > you a spiral CT scan, which is being used more by emergency
> > rooms to determine a blockage. It has very good accuracy and
> > should relieve your worry some. The heart is complicated. Many
> > things can kill you besides a blockage. Unless you've been a
> > really bad boy and have bad genes too, you are probably OK.
> > As you said, this is not medical advice.
>
> He's got heart wall thickening? I don't want to alarm him even more,
> but there is a disconcerting note in the this article about a
> collapsed athlete at the Honolulu marathon this past weekend:
>
> "Barahal said that while he was not familiar with the details of
> Takano's case, most cases of cardiac arrest in athletes under 40 are
> related to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart
> muscle." http://tinyurl.com/uqkny
>
> In any case, I would not run any marathons until this thing was
> checked out.
>
> In fact, after reading that Honolulu story, I might ask for one of
> these portable defibrillators for Christmas. I'll strap it to my ass
> for my next marathon. It might come in handy.
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Date: 16 Dec 2006 06:14:59
From: Al Bundy
Subject: Re: heart report after echocardiogram
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mike e wrote:
> hello, i am 48/m in good health,.I have been back into' regular running
> for the past year and lost 20-25 lbs. i was encouraged to get
> exercising again to try and lower cholesterol and, with perserverance,
> got into my normal weight range for my 5'8" height with at least 3-4
> days of running a week for 8-10 months or so.
>
> When i had a physical a few weeks ago my doctor said the EKG indicated
> heart stroke was larger than that of my EKG from my year-ago
> physical...which he said was likely a reflection of the exercise but
> suggested an echo-gram to look closer.
>
> Today i called and the result of that test were said to reveal a mild
> 'wall abnormality.' and my doctor
> advised to see him next week - earliest appt time being Thursday. I
> have frankly been a mental mess
> over this and am hopeful there is nothing major to be concerned about.
> I have heard of athlete heart, and
> since i am not feeling overexertion with running, i am curious as to
> the test result. Having this hang over
> my head waiting to learn more is driving me nuts. I talked to the doc
> and he suggested that i'd likely need
> a stress test to investigate this more closely.. and advised i 'take it
> easy' with exercise til i come in...
>
> Since im sure that won't be able to be scheduled til at least week or
> two away, i am not feeling as if my vacation will be very relaxing,
>
> I know something of the Athletic Heart and wonder if this test could
> still in fact reflect a normal condition of my heart adapting to
> regular activity.
>
> I know this is not a medical board but i guess i'm just looking for any
> support from anyone who can relate
> with similar experience... thanks much for your time and thoughts.
>
> Mike
You'd think heart doctors would be aware of changes that take place
when a person gets into condition. Sometimes they don't seem to or at
least will never take a chance than a change is not due to something
serious. Heart wall thickening could be interpreted as disease or it
could be from strengthening. I have two athletic friends with diagnosed
heart problems. The one woman has atypical thinning of the heart wall,
which her father at 90 also has. It probably is genetic. The other lady
is a great runner and has an abnormal EKG, which the doctor suspects
was caused by stress over a long term family situation.
If I had insurance I'd let the doctor check what he wanted, but I
wouldn't let it stop me from exercising. Maybe ask him to give you a
spiral CT scan, which is being used more by emergency rooms to
determine a blockage. It has very good accuracy and should relieve your
worry some. The heart is complicated. Many things can kill you besides
a blockage. Unless you've been a really bad boy and have bad genes too,
you are probably OK.
As you said, this is not medical advice.
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Date: 16 Dec 2006 14:44:44
From: Mark Hutchinson
Subject: Re: heart report after echocardiogram
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"Al Bundy" <MSfortune@mcpmail.com > wrote
> You'd think heart doctors would be aware of changes that take
> place when a person gets into condition. Sometimes they don't
> seem to or at least will never take a chance than a change is
> not due to something serious. Heart wall thickening could be
> interpreted as disease or it could be from strengthening. I have
> two athletic friends with diagnosed heart problems. The one
> woman has atypical thinning of the heart wall, which her father
> at 90 also has. It probably is genetic. The other lady is a
> great runner and has an abnormal EKG, which the doctor suspects
> was caused by stress over a long term family situation.
> If I had insurance I'd let the doctor check what he wanted, but
> I wouldn't let it stop me from exercising. Maybe ask him to give
> you a spiral CT scan, which is being used more by emergency
> rooms to determine a blockage. It has very good accuracy and
> should relieve your worry some. The heart is complicated. Many
> things can kill you besides a blockage. Unless you've been a
> really bad boy and have bad genes too, you are probably OK.
> As you said, this is not medical advice.
He's got heart wall thickening? I don't want to alarm him even more,
but there is a disconcerting note in the this article about a
collapsed athlete at the Honolulu marathon this past weekend:
"Barahal said that while he was not familiar with the details of
Takano's case, most cases of cardiac arrest in athletes under 40 are
related to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart
muscle." http://tinyurl.com/uqkny
In any case, I would not run any marathons until this thing was
checked out.
In fact, after reading that Honolulu story, I might ask for one of
these portable defibrillators for Christmas. I'll strap it to my ass
for my next marathon. It might come in handy.
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Date: 16 Dec 2006 14:39:57
From: mike e
Subject: Re: heart report after echocardiogram
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Dan, i plan to ask for a certain cardiologist for the stress test and
analysis.
Til then i guess the best possible thing i can do is to chill out about
it...
Thanks for the info!
Mike
D Stumpus wrote:
> I had an echogram after my ekg showed a small ST abnormality on a life
> insurance EKG. This is not unusual among highly trained aerobic athletes.
> The main worry was HCM (hypertropic cardiomyopathy).
>
> The cardiologist who did my echogram analyzed the result within a few
> minutes of the test, and pronounced me normal, with a high output (92%
> ejection) heart, good valves, good wall motion, no signs of plaquing, low
> blood pressure to the lungs, etc, etc.
>
> Later, an insurance doctor (not a cardiologist) read the result and
> pronounced my septum to be too thick at 8mm. My cardio replied (in
> essence): "you dummy, 8mm is normal during the systolic phase".
>
> So you want to get a cardiologist's reading (preferably one who knows a few
> athletic hearts).
>
> At any rate, I'd get another cardiologist to review the test before jumping
> off a bridge.
>
> It also helps to read up on this stuff (I used the 'net), so it's not just
> mumbo-jumbo...
>
> -- Dan
>
>
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
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Date: 16 Dec 2006 13:31:03
From: D Stumpus
Subject: Re: heart report after echocardiogram
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I had an echogram after my ekg showed a small ST abnormality on a life
insurance EKG. This is not unusual among highly trained aerobic athletes.
The main worry was HCM (hypertropic cardiomyopathy).
The cardiologist who did my echogram analyzed the result within a few
minutes of the test, and pronounced me normal, with a high output (92%
ejection) heart, good valves, good wall motion, no signs of plaquing, low
blood pressure to the lungs, etc, etc.
Later, an insurance doctor (not a cardiologist) read the result and
pronounced my septum to be too thick at 8mm. My cardio replied (in
essence): "you dummy, 8mm is normal during the systolic phase".
So you want to get a cardiologist's reading (preferably one who knows a few
athletic hearts).
At any rate, I'd get another cardiologist to review the test before jumping
off a bridge.
It also helps to read up on this stuff (I used the 'net), so it's not just
mumbo-jumbo...
-- Dan
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
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