Heart Health

[tccox]

Guys and Gals

I read the very sad news about Dave Kennedy, I get my latest copy of Red Rider and read in the back about a 2003 ST1300 rider (anyone here ??) who suffered a heart attack while touring. Folks , I have two stents in my chest.

Two years ago I took a stress test per the advice from my Doctor. I had no symptoms, no pain, no shortness of breath no nothing to indicate I had a problem. My Doctor just think folks 50 and over should walk the treadmill.

Test showed I had a 100% blockage of my right coronary artery. Two stents and I was fine but if it had'nt been discovered ????

Theres a lot of us here 50 and over. Folks , If you have'nt had one go get one. May save your life.

[Horst]

Today this is very much on my mind also, as I'm sure it is for most ... at the tender young age of 44 I also walked the treadmill and tests showed no problems ... my chest pain was gastro-intestinal in nature but the doctor strongly recommended a diet change and some execise.

The diet change has been made ... lots of fruit and vegetables, less of everything else. Exercise is up, but I really have to work at it ... apparently riding my ST1100, no matter how far and fast, does not count :mad:

Ride safe everyone ... live safe too ... no more Poutine or Biscuits'n'Gravy :)

[Mellow]

I agree, most of us here are at the age where this is much more important... I just got back into working out again myself, lost 20lbs so far and I'm thinking another 10 wouldn't hurt. I do the stationary bike for an hour almost every day now and at 70-80% of my max heartrate...I don't know if it's the weight loss or the activity or both but I just feel better, about myself.

This in no way is to suggest that Dave lived his life wrong. Quite the opposite, I feel riding the bike and dealing with the stresses of riding provides you with the tools and practice to calm yourself in situations where a non-rider might stress more in every day events.

We should all take better care of ourselves and that's the case no matter what size, shape or age you are.

With three major holidays bearing down on us, 2 eating and 1 drinking, it's not always easy to do things in moderation but I hope everyone tries. And, it's a good rule for the rest of the year too.

[BruceP]

Last Nov. I went through the whole 9 yards with all the sudden chest pain and the whole works. Two stents and 4 plasties later I am till here. A little advice:

Take one 81 mg aspirin a day

Carry three 325 mg aspirin with you. If heart condition hits you chew the three and call 911 with out delay or procrastination! Do not think it is an upset stomach or heart burn let the doctor tell you that if it is. There is a simple blood test that will tell if it is a heart attack.
DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!!!!!!

[clmixon]

Guys,

We are all gettting older, slower and in some cases, more mature. There are identified , proven , factors involved in heart health, most of them establish during one of the longest running studies in medical history. The Framingham study has been following generations of familys in Framingham Mass and identifiying risk factors for heart attack, hypertension and stroke.

While age, sex, genes and disease are out of our control, there are several fators that can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack,

1 stop smoking (second hand smoke counts too)
2 mild to moderate exercise ( it does not take much at all)
3 limit diatary fat intake
4 monitor LDL and HDL (cholesterol)
5 Control hypertension and diabetes as closely as possible

Genetics plays a big part, if you grandparents and parents had heart trouble, you probably will too even after mitigating all the other factors. Age is the other big one, statistically every year you live makes you more likely to have a heart attack (think about that one for a minute) Age 40 for males and 45 for females is probably the midpoint.

Surprisingly, more women than men now die from purely cardiac events and we are much less likely to test and treat their symptoms as a heart attack when they present with any symptom.

Asprin is a great tool for limiting the size of an infarct but it will not stop you from having a cardiac event and it can cause other problems if used incorrectly, see your doctor and decide what is right for you.

Having said all of that, while I do not smoke, I am sedentary, overweight and have a horrible diet and a big fear of the medical community finding something wrong with me that keeps me from monitoring my health like a should, maybe we all need to think about change?

Chris :04biker:

[nurseBob]

Having said all of that, while I do not smoke, I am sedentary, overweight and have a horrible diet and a big fear of the medical community finding something wrong with me that keeps me from monitoring my health like a should, maybe we all need to think about change?

Chris :04biker:

Change is hard. And somehow, working in the healt community, we seem to be able to rationalize pretty darn good. I know it happens to me, especially when I admit someone younger than me to the unit for cardiac monitoring. Even seeing the results of high stress, sedentary lifestyles, and poorly managed diets, I'm still able to put off getting to the gym more often than I should. In my (minor) self-defense, I do consider my daily rides on the ST, even the commutes to work, as part of my meditation and therapy. But, there's no cardiovascular stimulation there...

[Coop]

Along the same line, be aware of strokes. The worst thing you can do about a stroke is wait to go to the hospital. They have drugs that can minimize the bad effects of a stroke if they are given soon enough. If you suspect someone has had a stroke, ask them to smile, raise both arms, and made a simple sentence. If they have problems doing these things, it's time to head to the hospital and if your emengency room is as crowded as the ones here, I'd call 911 and get a ride.

[Medicine Bear]

If there is anything positive that can come from our loss of Dave, let it be that we resolve to take the time and energy to do those things that we know we need to do. If that isn't enough, I can't think of any stronger incentive than the loss of a friend unless it is the loss your family will feel if you are the one in the morgue.

Fred :03biker:

[NewsMag]

A friend sent this to me last week. Instructions were to share it around. This seems to be the right time and place...

[sherob]

If I remember correctly it was a guy who used to frequent this board that had that story published. He was very PO'ed at the guys he rode down there with because they didn't help him or his wife at all.

His moral was know who you ride with... ;)

Kennedy's passing has really hit me hard...:( I have smoked my last cigarette... was going to soon anyway at my daughters urging :rolleyes: I do the 81mg aspirin every morning... modest exercise... as much as my back can stand anyway :rolleyes: I need to out live my ST ;)

[trueblu]

Been there, done that. At 55 I went through all of that. Stents, angioplasties and after that Atrial fibrilation and ablation (burning the veins on the heart). 5years in and out of Hospital while still running a Business and feeding a young family (my 3rd). Now at 61 I'm doing great and on top of it all. Gives you a real appreciation of life and riding my ST is at the top the list.

[MNwing]

Kennedy's passing has really hit me hard...:( I have smoked my last cigarette... was going to soon anyway at my daughters urging

Sherob; Good for you. I quite in 1986 after many years of smoking and half hearted attempts at stopping. Make up your mind your going to do it and after a few days the urge will decrease, and also I found it helped me to think of how awful the habit was and now I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke or be near those who smoke.

Your family will be your support. Good Luck and Best wishes, I know you can do it.

[sokay]

If I may put in my 2c: (1) Seems to me most processed food is without much, if any, nutritional value or contains nasty things like cotton-seed oil or hydrolized vegetable oil. I'm trying to eat more fresh food and less of it, so to speak. (2) I've never been able to keep at exercise for its own sake. I prefer doing things in the out of doors, preferably in Nature, that do involve some exertion. For me this means, in these cold months, walking ten miles once a week or paddling the kayak a similar distance.

[CruisingDog]

I have smoked my last cigarette... was going to soon anyway at my daughters urging

Good for you. I gave up 3 years ago and don't even think about it. It does get easier, I promise.

BTW, apparently my friend just gave up and she got some anti-depressants from her Doctor. Apparently they worked wonders and she never got 'bummed out' whilst quitting. She said that this is quite a new strategy and it's working very well. Might be worth discussing it with your Doc.

... I gave up smoking and took up riding. I just ride 10 times a day now ;-)

[fundyrider]

I would have bet my house against your shoelace if sommbody said I would ever take up running, 10yrs ago my idea of a workout was a 1km stroll to the Dairy Queen then reward myself with a banana split.
At 40 my wife somehow convinced me to take short jogs with her at a local park, a couple 100 ft and I was puffing hard but it didn't take long before I could see improvement, there were lots of aches and pains at first but gradually my body strenthened and running became less effort and a great sense of accomplishment. I love running.
Maybe we should all move to Kempo Todds neck of the woods and join his club, he'd get us fit or kill us trying:D
Peter:04biker:

[blumax]

I know what ya'll are talking about. I had shortness of breath for about 6 months and being hard headed I didn't go to the Doctor. I spent a week in the critical care unit last July, no stints but weak heart. I have changed a lot of things, especially getting closer to God. :04biker:

[Kempo-STer]

[QUOTE=BruceP]Take one 81 mg aspirin a day
[QUOTE]
Bruce,
Be careful about given what is considered medical advice to the general population. In my personal training business, this is considered practicing medicine without a license and opens me up to a lawsuit.
I know you meant no harm but keep it in mind.

If any of you are considering exercise I posted this in my business announcement in hopes of motivating you..

""A lot of times in the fitness world, what takes people away from exercise are 2 things..Not knowing what to do/where to begin and boredom.
An exercise program has to make sense to someone. It has to get more challenging on a gradual basis as the body becomes stronger. This is the only way someone will really wrap their arms aorund an exercise routine and take ownership of it. And then at approx 6 -8 weeks the routine NEEDS to change. It is at the point the body has completed its first adjustment, a person hits their first plateau and the mind starts to say to the person, I am not getting 'better/growing/losing weight" like I used to, etc...This is they key moment when MOST people fail and ultimately their spirit and drive fade away..ultimately ending in quiting. This is when the program needs to be changed and spark the body in mind again.
If not, They eventually in the future begin again to the same vicious cycle.""

Good luck to all in your fitness quest..

[jsl]

Heart health is important,but be sure and watch your PSA. Over the past two years my PSA levels would be normal,then elevated,then back to normal again. I did some research on this and found that riding a motorcycle can cause PSA's to temporarily increase. I saw a correlation, several of those blood tests had been done after long rides, but my doctor wanted to do a biopsy anyway.
So, in a strange twist, it seems the ST may have saved my life. The biopsy did find cancer, but at a very early stage of development ( 1 postive out of 12, Gleason 6 ). If not for those long rides and the resulting elevated PSA, it may have been years before it was discovered. It's not good news, but it could have been a whole lot worse.
Having a diagnoses of cancer is a lot like the feeling you get when you realise that you are taking a corner too fast or have that car turn left in front of you, but it just stays with you.
PSA tests are important, so don't put them off out of neglect or fear of the results.

[Mellow]

Heart health is important,but be sure and watch your PSA. Over the past two years my PSA levels would be normal,then elevated,then back to normal again. I did some research on this and found that riding a motorcycle can cause PSA's to temporarily increase. I saw a correlation, several of those blood tests had been done after long rides, but my doctor wanted to do a biopsy anyway.
So, in a strange twist, it seems the ST may have saved my life. The biopsy did find cancer, but at a very early stage of development ( 1 postive out of 12, Gleason 6 ). If not for those long rides and the resulting elevated PSA, it may have been years before it was discovered. It's not good news, but it could have been a whole lot worse.
Having a diagnoses of cancer is a lot like the feeling you get when you realise that you are taking a corner too fast or have that car turn left in front of you, but it just stays with you.
PSA tests are important, so don't put them off out of neglect or fear of the results.

Glad to hear you caught it in the early stages. My girlfriend has/had Ovarian cancer and it was caught quick.. She did the chemo and radiation and it was tough as she had two rounds of it but she's now in remission and the whole world looks different to her. If there's anything we can do just let us know, it helps to talk sometimes...

[JReviere]

Those of us in or retired from the "health care business" (yes, it is a BUSINESS) are perhaps the world's worst advice givers on this topic. You see, we rarely practice what we preach!

Long after I retired and quit seeing patients for a living (Psychologist), I got a wake up call.... I woke up laying in a puddle of puke in a drive way high on the side of Sandia Peak in Albuquerque... a fast ride to the hospital... concussion, big time... high blood pressure... blacked out... tumbled down concrete steps, cracked my head big time... almost bought the farm, but STUPIDLY went right back to eating myself to death. That was some years ago.

Blood pressure pills made me dizzy, sold my ST, felt like the end of the world, tried to give up riding, didn't work, tried the "dark side" (cruisers/standards...) didn't work.

Then about 18 months ago, I realized, FINALLY, I had to take command of ME and my lust for anything edible. I read South Beach. I read Atkins. I read Pauling. I read the bloody library, then I devised my own program which is very simple....

Now in my mid-70's, heavy hard body exercise is out... but ... OUT also is high energy containing food. I devised a regime in which I restrict carbohydrate intake, limiting it to COMPLEX carbs only and no more than 30 grams per 24 hours. (This means NO SWEETS, NO BREADS, NO RICE, NO SPUDS, ... none of the "good tasting stuff".) I walk a measured 2 miles a minimum of 5 days a week. I consume great amounts of fresh RAW veggies, some cheese, some meat, some eggs, but heavy on RAW green, red, and yellow veggies, modest amount of fruit...

Now in 18 months, 10 inches have dropped off my gut, my weight is down from a high of 235 to 174 at the last count, and most significantly my base line BP has allowed me to wean off of antihypertensive drugs...

And best of all..... there sits in the garage at this moment a "new" (to me) 03 ST1300A.....

Life is good. There's a LOT more to life than fine food and a blubber belly with bum knees, and a bum heart as a result.

What worked for me may or may not work for you.

As much as we humans are alike, the range of variance within "normality" far exceeds what the majority of people believe to be the case.

Live long and prosper!

JR
STOC 394

[Mellow]

JR, congrats... many people might thing it's too late to do anything beyond a certain age... Thanks for letting people know it's never too late and you can do anything you set your mind do...

Glad you're back in the saddle again.

[fundyrider]

JR, great encouragement for those who feel they're beyond hope of ever gaining improved health through lifestyle change, it's never too late.
I work with a guy who is 50, he is proof that with dicipline and the will to change anyone can do it.
Last spring he could hardly walk from the dozer to the lunchroom,about 20meters, at that time he was just a tad under 400lbs, his hips were seizing up, short of breath and knew his days were numbered if he didn't make some drastic changes. He joined weight watchers and joined a fitness center, they put together a program that he could follow and stuck with it, in 2 months he has lost 40lbs, can walk 50mins at a fairly brisk pace on a treadmill and feels like he is alive again. He now parks the dozer about a kilometer away from the lunchroom and walks.
It's great to listen to him, the confidence and uplifted spirit he now has is an inspiration to us all, there are others at work who because of seeing him do it are doing the same thing.
Like the Nike slogan says , Just Do It (with the doctors rubber stamp first of course)
Peter:04biker:

[Blrfl]

These things must come in clusters...

Just found out that my dad is having a little pre-Thanksgiving valve replacement done tomorrow and someone on my sister-in-law's side of the family had a triple-bypass last week.

--Mark

[wjbertrand]

Those of us in or retired from the "health care business" (yes, it is a BUSINESS) are perhaps the world's worst advice givers on this topic. You see, we rarely practice what we preach!

Long after I retired and quit seeing patients for a living (Psychologist), I got a wake up call.... I woke up laying in a puddle of puke in a drive way high on the side of Sandia Peak in Albuquerque... a fast ride to the hospital... concussion, big time... high blood pressure... blacked out... tumbled down concrete steps, cracked my head big time... almost bought the farm, but STUPIDLY went right back to eating myself to death. That was some years ago.

Blood pressure pills made me dizzy, sold my ST, felt like the end of the world, tried to give up riding, didn't work, tried the "dark side" (cruisers/standards...) didn't work.

Then about 18 months ago, I realized, FINALLY, I had to take command of ME and my lust for anything edible. I read South Beach. I read Atkins. I read Pauling. I read the bloody library, then I devised my own program which is very simple....

Now in my mid-70's, heavy hard body exercise is out... but ... OUT also is high energy containing food. I devised a regime in which I restrict carbohydrate intake, limiting it to COMPLEX carbs only and no more than 30 grams per 24 hours. (This means NO SWEETS, NO BREADS, NO RICE, NO SPUDS, ... none of the "good tasting stuff".) I walk a measured 2 miles a minimum of 5 days a week. I consume great amounts of fresh RAW veggies, some cheese, some meat, some eggs, but heavy on RAW green, red, and yellow veggies, modest amount of fruit...

Now in 18 months, 10 inches have dropped off my gut, my weight is down from a high of 235 to 174 at the last count, and most significantly my base line BP has allowed me to wean off of antihypertensive drugs...

And best of all..... there sits in the garage at this moment a "new" (to me) 03 ST1300A.....

Life is good. There's a LOT more to life than fine food and a blubber belly with bum knees, and a bum heart as a result.

What worked for me may or may not work for you.

As much as we humans are alike, the range of variance within "normality" far exceeds what the majority of people believe to be the case.

Live long and prosper!

JR
STOC 394


My story is a lot like JR's. I felt OK and didn't really have such a dramatic wake up call but I was way overweight and running some pretty high BP numbers. Cholesterol was a 265! I've never smoked but my doctor shoved the South Beach Diet book into my hands and said "read it, then do it".

So I did.

After about 9 - 12 months I'd shed 60 lb (250 -> 190), dropped total cholesterol from 265 -> 189 whilst improving the HDL/LDL ratio. I started mild execise, about 30 - 40 minutes brisk walking 4-6 times a week. I feel better, look better (not saying much there) and have better stamina. :D The only intractible has been the BP, got it down a little but not enough to jettison the meds completely:(

Now, about a year later, I'm still bouncing around between 190 and 200 and still feeling good. The best fun is running into someone who hasn't seen me in a while. They are always surprised at my weight loss.

The key thing is that one has to consider these dietary changes permanent, or it won't work. If you go back to what you were doing before, you go back to being what you were before.

Lastly, I actually reduced the spring preload on the rear shock of the ST, and I still have more cornering clearance than before!

[STony G]

Lastly, I actually reduced the spring preload on the rear shock of the ST, and I still have more cornering clearance than before!

Ladies and Gentlemen, if gaining cornering clearance :D does not get us to lose that extra ballast, then, nothing will :rolleyes: .

Not only is our health based on what we eat, but, it is also based on the fact that we do NEED to eat. Case in point, my Dad;
My Dad was admitted to the hospital, because he passed out while waiting for his car at the carwash. After running every test they could to find the cause and comming up empty. It was determined that his diet, or lack of, was the cause. He never feels hungry, so, he doesn't eat. He said the "only time I feel hunger is when I smell food". I think I'll buy him a candle that smells like a BBQ'd steak :D .

[rwl1955]

I turned 50 last July. My DR. scheduled me for the colonoscopy test. Of boy, I can`t wait.
I used to run 5 or 6 days a week. Minimum 4 miles a day. No more. I run 3 days a week weather permitting, about 3 miles each run. I bought a LEMOND road bicycle a few years ago. It`s better for the joints but hell on my back.
I need to get back to the gym also.
Check out a spinning class at your local gym. That will get your heart pumping. There is always a pool of sweat under my bike at the end of the session.

[Mellow]

I turned 50 last July. My DR. scheduled me for the colonoscopy test. Of boy, I can`t wait.
I used to run 5 or 6 days a week. Minimum 4 miles a day. No more. I run 3 days a week weather permitting, about 3 miles each run. I bought a LEMOND road bicycle a few years ago. It`s better for the joints but hell on my back.
I need to get back to the gym also.
Check out a spinning class at your local gym. That will get your heart pumping. There is always a pool of sweat under my bike at the end of the session.

Bob, one thing that's helped me a ton when on a bicycle or stationary bike is a back extension bench.

http://us.st4.yimg.com/store1.yimg.com/I/bigfit_1871_35737175
click for link (http://bigfitness.com/bosopobchbah.html)

It's really helped me a lot, you can turn around and do sit ups too.

[rwl1955]

Bob, one thing that's helped me a ton when on a bicycle or stationary bike is a back extension bench.

Thanks Mellow
I need to do my lower back exercises also.

[Mellow]

I didn't know that. Is that Rita? Glad she's doing better!

Jerry, yes that's her. Thanks, she's getter better everyday.