Running is Not a "Silver Bullet" Against Heart Disease

Incredibly, I found myself with Steve in the ER at Cedars Sinai with on Wednesday. It seems that sometime last week he had a heart attack.  Not only that, but evidently he has been diabetic for some time and has been walking around with pneumonia.  5 days later, following emergency surgery, Steve is home - and vowing to "get this thing under control," to exercise everyday, to eat right, to pay attention.

This whole "heart thing" has gotten me curious.  Over the last 12 months, our sport has seen several "sudden deaths" during the marathon due to heart failure, including Ryan Shay at the New York Marathon just a few months ago.  And I have to admit that in many ways, I have been assuming that my own healthy lifestyle would somehow protect me from such a fate; it is somewhat disturbing to realize that in fact, this really isn't the case.  It is  true that regular exercise reduces the the risk of desease, morbidity and death in ALL people, and so the benefits of exercise far outweigh  the risk of sudden death during exercise.  But exercise may not be the silver bullet some of us think it is.

Back in the late 1970s the New England Journal of Medicine published a report, the conclusion of which was that marathon running would actually protect you from heart disease! But since then this topic has been studied at length, and the most recent position stand published jointly by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association in summary says:

"No sufficiently powered, randomized controlled studies have evaluated the contribution of exercise training to reducing CAD events. Nevertheless, a variety of epidemiological, basic scientific, and clinical evidence suggests that habitual physical activity decreases the risk of fatal and nonfatal CAD events and that the benefits of regular physical activity outweigh its risks. Consequently, physical activity should be encouraged for most individuals in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ACSM recommendations for >30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity such as brisk walking on most, preferably all, days of the week."

So the science basically confirms common sense.  Get regular exercise, eat a low fat diet, get plenty of rest, control your stress levels.  Running (and walking) is just one piece of the puzzle.

Want to know more?  Learn the 5 strategies for a healthy heart here!

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