Is running killing us? (Read 575 times)

This article may already be doing the rounds but if it isn't then get ready to pull apart the at best aggregated study

being communicated out in the public arena.

http://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/9888203/Is-running-too-much-killing-you

I don't think most people running high mileage are under the illusion that it will provide health benefits.

Our sport has an intimate relationship with death. The first marathoner was dead on arrival. When a race goes badly, we say bluntly that we died, and everyone knows exactly what we mean. As early as junior high, I used to describe the best race to myself as one in which I died just as I crossed the line. I would "kill myself" in speed workouts, sometimes take off in races on purpose at a "suicidal" pace. The language of running is the language of death. To run my best, it intuitively seemed to me that the first fear that I needed to overcome was the fear of death.

Click

I'm going to go sit on the couch, where it's nice and healthy.

GOOD LUCK BRO

being human is killing us - running is enhancing an otherwise blah experience

In the journal where this article appeared (Missouri Medicine) there is also a fairly lengthy "testimonial" article by a Kansas City area opthalmologist, John C Hagan, III, who over the years has done many triathlons and half marathons and at least one marathon.  In his own admittedly N=1 study he concludes that his years of running likely caused his atrial fibrillation and  highly elevated (CACS) score for calcified coronary plaque.  I was thinking of writing my own N = 1 study response to his piece.  I don't have the data to write a response to the main research article, but I figure any testimonial is as good as Hagan's.

One thing you will note about many of these articles that pop up claiming heart damage results from lots of running is that this dude James O'Keefe is at the root of most of them, and frankly I've become personally convinced that the guy has some philosophical axe to grind and is trying to make a name for himself so he can grow up to be like Doctor Oz or something.  This journal article gravely states that, "Indeed, an emerging body of scientific data suggests that chronic, excessive, high-intensity exercise may induce oxidative stress and myocardial fibrosis, accelerate atherolsclerosis, increase vascular wall thickness, and increase cardiac chamber stiffness."  This statement regarding the ominous "emerging body of scientific data" carries footnotes numbers 12 and 13 as support, which in turn refer to papers by..... you guessed it, James O'Keefe.  So this guy is out there basically single handedly creating most of this stuff.  In case many of you were not aware of O'Keefe and the guys in his circle of disciples I would refer you to this as a balancing point of view from Alex Hutchinshon:  http://www.runnersworld.com/health/too-much-running-myth-rises-again.  You will note that I'm not the only one suspicious that this is not unbiased science.  I have a lot of other thoughts about the actual research itself, but gotta get back to work  now.  :-)

"While logging huge numbers of kilometres and running marathons can keep you thinner, lower your risk for type 2 diabetes and offer other benefits, it appears the subsequent wear and tear on the heart is a potential drawback, O'Keefe said."

I don't run any kilometres in an average week, only miles.

*whew* Safe.