New Study: Higher Cardiac Plaque Calcification in High Intensity Athletes

MissJR said:
welcome to women's healthcare 101

i've had numerous "disagreements" with doctors... even walking out on one because i didn't care for how i was talked down to and treated.
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Not trying to diminish the fact that this happens to women all the time, but in the doctor world they do it to men a lot too. I’ve sought out women for my last 2 PCPs for this reason, plus IME female doctors seem much more willing to hear you out regarding your concerns. Thankfully we’ve found a great one, and the Mrs and I both see her now.
 
TommyF said:
@Carson Appreciate the update, will post up what my PCP says on the 12th. He did give me an "A" on my physical aside from the slightly elevated LDL, everything is in the green. My boss is an ex pro baseball player who recently had a heart attack, his calcium score was very high!! I told him about this study and his eyes almost blew out of his head. I'm keeping him in the loop on all of this as well. My dad died at 60, kidney cancer, I'm 62 so I've outlived him. Dads side of the family all died fairly young, but most were alcoholics or had diabetes that they poorly managed so I don't have too much cardiac history on that side. Mom's side lives long, but there were memory issues, my mom is currently going strong at 83, she's still on the dance floor and looks dam good for her age !! Hope I've got that going for me.
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You got a letter grade? I want a letter grade. I'll say a B+. And that's grading on a curve.
 
Blood work back. All normal except:

Total Cholesterol 188
LDL 118

The "cardiac calculator" says do nothing because statistically, I'm no more likely to have a cardiac event than if my numbers were 160 and 60.

I'll revisit next year, I suppose.

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Carson said:
Blood work back. All normal except:

Total Cholesterol 188
LDL 118

The "cardiac calculator" says do nothing because statistically, I'm no more likely to have a cardiac event than if my numbers were 160 and 60.

I'll revisit next year, I suppose.

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Was there any discussion of the role played the total/HDL ratio in the evaluation, and/or the triglyceride number?

I’ve seen both cited as significant in these discussions.
 
ChrisG said:
Was there any discussion of the role played the total/HDL ratio in the evaluation, and/or the triglyceride number?

I’ve seen both cited as significant in these discussions.
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None with PCP. Triglycerides was in normal limits. Zero mention of HDL at all, which was within normal limits.

@ChrisG EDIT. Being told the HDL/LDL ratio is an outdated indicator, good or bad, and not used anymore.

Triglycerides not related to LDL unless LDL is very high, as it makes your cholesterol "sticky", making it more likely to cause a blockage.
 
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stb222 said:
Not totally on-topic but heart related and an article that also stuck in my mind:

Cycling to extremes: Heart health and endurance sports

Are endurance athletes hurting their hearts by repeatedly pushing beyond what is normal? The scary science on the damage caused by overtraining
velo.outsideonline.com velo.outsideonline.com

Damned if you do/don't
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Once we approach 60 years old, lots of us start having some form of Afib, if we happen to have been born with a bicuspid aortic valve we develop an aneurysm, often enlarged left ventricle starts being a thing.

IMHO : for sure get an echocardiogram, they are cheap and easy and can rule out any (often fatal) blockages and catch any aneurysms. CT score would be nice as well.

I’ve got a new bovine aortic valve that will only last a bit more than ten years so I’m gonna go do what I like doing until it’s time to hang up the cleats.

W
 
What I've read both published and unpublished.
  • Dietary cholesterol has very little effect on blood cholesterol
  • Blood cholesterol level seems to be uncorrelated with heart disease.
  • Blood cholesterol is easy to measure and easy to reduce, but lowering cholesterol is not associated with better health outcomes.
  • The calcium score is a view of artery health.
I was put on statins, and went off statins. The health benefits of statins is statistically very small, the side effects a crap shoot.
 
The discussion in this thread had me planning to schedule my doctor visit. If anyone needs more incentive, please read.

Philly area lost a cyclist on Monday who leaves 2 young daughters. If you've raced at MASS series Guy's Neshaminy, Ed was part of the promotion team and voice of the starting area If he wasn't racing. Still fast as he's joined the 60+ ranks.

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He posted this back in Dec. '24. Hopefully this helped someone.
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JDurk said:
The discussion in this thread had me planning to schedule my doctor visit. If anyone needs more incentive, please read.

Philly area lost a cyclist on Monday who leaves 2 young daughters. If you've raced at MASS series Guy's Neshaminy, Ed was part of the promotion team and voice of the starting area If he wasn't racing. Still fast as he's joined the 60+ ranks.

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View attachment 255085
He posted this back in Dec. '24. Hopefully this helped someone.
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I didnt know the guy but man thats absolutely terrible and horrifying to read. His post from December is quite haunting but good for him to make his intentions clear.

For sure will be scheduling my annual check up and mentioning this cardiac topic to my GP. Up until now I certainly have had the assumed mindset that my cardiac health based on RHR, Low BP and general physical fitness make me the least likely candidate for something to happen. Not implying I assume to know anything about what happened to this guy but it certainly makes me think much more about it.

RIP to him and peace to his family and friends. from what I briefly read seems like hes been around cycling for decades and will be a big loss for everyone who knew him. :-(
 
JDurk said:
The discussion in this thread had me planning to schedule my doctor visit. If anyone needs more incentive, please read.

Philly area lost a cyclist on Monday who leaves 2 young daughters. If you've raced at MASS series Guy's Neshaminy, Ed was part of the promotion team and voice of the starting area If he wasn't racing. Still fast as he's joined the 60+ ranks.

Log into Facebook

Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com

View attachment 255085
He posted this back in Dec. '24. Hopefully this helped someone.
View attachment 255086
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Thanks for posting, I thought of this thread also when I heard the very sad news.

I only met him once at a Nesh race as an in the shadows volunteer, it was his last as the head coordinator. One impact he had on me was he made a connection to the school admin staff that was key in getting the first official NICA local dirt race at Nesh approved, which was hosted/run by the NICA team I was the head of at the time. RIP.
 
iman29 said:
I didnt know the guy but man thats absolutely terrible and horrifying to read. His post from December is quite haunting but good for him to make his intentions clear.

For sure will be scheduling my annual check up and mentioning this cardiac topic to my GP. Up until now I certainly have had the assumed mindset that my cardiac health based on RHR, Low BP and general physical fitness make me the least likely candidate for something to happen. Not implying I assume to know anything about what happened to this guy but it certainly makes me think much more about it.

RIP to him and peace to his family and friends. from what I briefly read seems like hes been around cycling for decades and will be a big loss for everyone who knew him. :-(
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You always here the rare story of the marathon runner who had 4% body fat, trained 6 days a week, and drops dead on a run. In fact, my mom did CPR on such a case on Allen Road in Basking Ridge maybe 15 years ago. He was in his 40s and did not survive.
 
I've been going down the rabbit hole on this stuff the last few days. I just had my annual and my LDL is through the roof (nearly 200). CT scan for calcium score is in 2 weeks, but I'm doing some reading that suggests calcium score uncovers more advanced artery damage that has been building for a while. The precursor is noncalcified plaques which do not show on a CT scan (but would show on an angiogram, which include IV dye). Based on my bloodwork and family history (dad and uncle both had heart attacks) I'm going to see if my doc will order this test instead.
 
I see my PCP every year, always have. I also have hereditary high cholesterol. Once I exhausted lifestyle attempts and my PCP’s knowledge to lower it, I went to a Cardiologist. With the calcium scan, stress test and detailed interview we developed a plan, including a statin. I have no side effects, so don’t let that chase you away from potentially changing your health glide path.
 
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