dani21496
Cathlete
I saw this on the Netscape homepage this morning. I guess I don't have to worry since I don't lift more than 50% of my body weight.
What do you guys think?
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Scary Warning For Weight Trainers
If your exercise program includes weight training, pay attention to this: A physician from the Yale University School of Medicine has warned that weight training may trigger a brush with death as it can rip the aorta. Over a two-year period, Dr. John A. Elefteriades has noticed a pattern between weight training and this potentially fatal, but relatively rare heart ailment.
The Associated Press reports that Elefteriades has collected the cases of five patients who suffered an aortic dissection. Three were his own patients and survived. Two, who were not his patients, died. Of the five, two were doing weight training when the aortic dissection occurred, while two were doing push-ups and one was trying to move a heavy piece of granite. Elefteriades is quick to point out that five cases do not equal proof of a correlation, but he does think that all five patients were not able to tolerate the spikes in blood pressure that naturally occur from the strain of the activity. While a normal blood pressure would be 120 millimeters of mercury as the heart is beating, power lifters can get up to 370 or even 390. And he considers that risky, even if most power lifters do it without harm.
To that end, Elefteriades and his colleagues have published what they call a warning letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "The risk of weightlifting as a cause of aortic dissection has generally been underappreciated," it said. Two reasons: It's often misdiagnosed as a heart attack, and physicians don't really understand why the aorta weakens. He urges weight trainers to be cautious and limit the lift to no more than 50 percent of body weight.
What do you guys think?
-----------------------------------------------------------
Scary Warning For Weight Trainers
If your exercise program includes weight training, pay attention to this: A physician from the Yale University School of Medicine has warned that weight training may trigger a brush with death as it can rip the aorta. Over a two-year period, Dr. John A. Elefteriades has noticed a pattern between weight training and this potentially fatal, but relatively rare heart ailment.
The Associated Press reports that Elefteriades has collected the cases of five patients who suffered an aortic dissection. Three were his own patients and survived. Two, who were not his patients, died. Of the five, two were doing weight training when the aortic dissection occurred, while two were doing push-ups and one was trying to move a heavy piece of granite. Elefteriades is quick to point out that five cases do not equal proof of a correlation, but he does think that all five patients were not able to tolerate the spikes in blood pressure that naturally occur from the strain of the activity. While a normal blood pressure would be 120 millimeters of mercury as the heart is beating, power lifters can get up to 370 or even 390. And he considers that risky, even if most power lifters do it without harm.
To that end, Elefteriades and his colleagues have published what they call a warning letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "The risk of weightlifting as a cause of aortic dissection has generally been underappreciated," it said. Two reasons: It's often misdiagnosed as a heart attack, and physicians don't really understand why the aorta weakens. He urges weight trainers to be cautious and limit the lift to no more than 50 percent of body weight.
