Atrial Fibrillation and Running

"Trust your own instinct. Your mistakes might as well be your own instead of someone else's."– Billy Wilder

According to an editorial in the British Journal Heart, the author suggested that running can take a toll on the heart that essentially eliminates the benefits of exercise. Some of the information stated that running too far, too fast for too many years may speed one’s progress towards the finish line of life. In a study of 52,600 people followed for three decades, runners had a 19% lower death rate than non runners. But among the running group that ran a lot-(more than 20-25 miles a week) ,this group of individuals lost the mortality advantage.  Further, in another study, the authors found that for those runners who ran faster than 8 mph did no better than those who ran slower as far as mortality was concerned.

Some of the problems or potential causes, of these runners, mentioned included:  extreme runners had cardiac abnormalities like coronary artery calcification, and/or increases in arrhythmia or atrial fibrillation. Apparently chronic extreme exercise appeared to cause excessive wear and tear on the heart. Notice, I used the word apparently.

There are critics of this new research’s methodology. They pointed out and criticized the statistics and the population size studied. They stated that associations (correlations) do not measure cause and effect (there could be other variables not studied) and that the number of these high mileage and speed athletes may be too few for statistical significance.

For those extreme runners that are concerned, I suggest that you go to the December issue of the journal in question and look up the original research. This article was found in the November 28, 2012 edition of the Wall Street Journal.

I was once on medication for atrial fibrillation for a few years. This medication  regulated my pulse rate while running. In 2008 I was planning on competing in the Swanton Pacific 100 mile ride and tie with Gypsy and partner Jonathan Jordan. Prior to that event, was the world championship ride and tie (Jonathan and Gypsy were my partners for that as well). I talked to my cardiologist about discontinuing the medication. I didn’t want to be on that medication when doing the 100 miler. So, Dr. Fischer had me do some trail running, come to a complete stop, and then evaluate my pulse to clock the amount of time it took to fall back into the 90s. I did that procedure numerous times, passed that test and discontinued the medication. Since 2008 I’ve not experienced any cardiac issues. I am not running 8 mph but I do total about 50 miles per week of running. At this point, I’m not planning to shorten my running distance. However, one change that I did make is that I’m now using an elliptical machine at least one day a week. I incorporated that machine to reduce trail pounding. Hopefully, that cross training will result in a benefit.

Today I plan to use the elliptical; tomorrow I have a continuing education class and Saturday have entered the Jed Smith 50 K. running race. My running friends Alpha and Chris Turney are joining me. Later this evening, Matt and Farah are going to be calling about their availability too.

My advice to you is keep moving and run for your life.