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Men's 50km walk. Medically unsound or am I being soft?
posted at 11/8/2012 2:05 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2948
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 23/5/2013 |
I witnessed the men's 50 km walk tonight. Usually only one third finish. Men collapsed at the end totally spent. I was shocked to see medics with wheel chairs ready to receive the finishing athletes. They elevated their legs. Some were on oxygen. I once saw an athlete when I was doing ICU who came in after a fun run. He had rhabdomyolysis, renal failure and lost all 20 digits which went black. The first man to run from Marathon to Athens after the famous Greek victory collapsed and died after saying "we won". Is this sport or should we as doctors be asking if this is safe? Imagine if one third of the sailors in the Olympics had to retire due to injury and some drowned or needed wheel chairs and oxygen at the finish line. Just seeing men hold off until the finish line and then go into a state of psysiologic shut down to me was nothing short of shocking. Would you ask your son or daughter to do this. I wouldn't. Is this sport gone mad? To me it is and I don't care if we did well. I put this question to you as doctors; not sports fans. Disclaimer: Australia won silver in this event, Russia gold and China bronze. |
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Re: Men's 50km walk. Medically unsound or am I being soft?
posted at 11/8/2012 11:19 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2948
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 23/5/2013 |
As the average heart rate is about 180 bpm in this race for over three hours, I ask the cardiologists and others what this does to the heart in the short or long term? I note some athletes evulsed their hamstrings from their insertion in the pelvis and some suffer osteitis pubis. What is the long-term effect of an unnatural gait on knees, hips, ankles, feet etc? Does anyone study this stuff or are we just obsessed on the here and now and not on the hereafter? |
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Re: Men's 50km walk. Medically unsound or am I being soft?
posted at 12/8/2012 12:15 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 579
First: 8/6/2011 Last: 22/5/2013 |
This is the Olympic spirit Odysseus. In ancient Greece was even worst . Especially boxing and pangratium. Did you forget ? Participation in the Olympics was not for everybody. Even for the spectators it was a physical challenge , There were no seats for the spectators to sit and they were obligated to watch standing upright without cover over their head , under the strong sun of Greece , and they were obligated to watch the games from the morning until the night. One of the seven grate philosophers of Greece died because of the sun watching this games. It is was said in ancient Greece ( in a form of joke ) that a Greek who lived on an island threatened his slave that if he does not do the work better he would send him to watch the Olympic games . And the roles were strict , even for the judges and the punishment was with the whip . |
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Re: Men's 50km walk. Medically unsound or am I being soft?
posted at 12/8/2012 12:17 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 3045
First: 27/3/2012 Last: 20/5/2013 |
Although no sports activity is considered safe especially for medically unfit personnel, we should accept the fact that exercise does help us keeping physically fit. With a regular practice particularly of walking or running help to keep the heart rate controlled. Afterall, there is nothing worth than having a risk, to achieve something especially for our country! |
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Re: Men's 50km walk. Medically unsound or am I being soft?
posted at 12/8/2012 1:19 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2948
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 23/5/2013 |
I do not forget the boxing etc in the original Olympics. Men died but we are now living in a nanny state where one can't do anything without workplace, health and safety. I am not suggesting that we ban the race but just was shocked about the huge number of wheel chairs awaiting the arrival of those finishing and the number lying prostrate on the road, in a state of physiologic melt down. I suppose Pheidippides Φειδιππίδης is their exemplar. There is hardly a thing the Ancient Greeks did not do or think of; even the atom was their idea. |
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Re: Men's 50km walk. Medically unsound or am I being soft?
posted at 12/8/2012 10:04 PM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2049
First: 12/3/2010 Last: 22/5/2013 |
When I read your post, Odysseus, I happened to be sitting next to three eminent sports doctors, so I asked them to comment. They recognise the situation you describe, but assure me that this should not happen, any more than a high performance, F1 car's engine should blow up, as they do sometimes on the track. Correct training, proper hydration in particular, are critical, but this is pushing human endurance and performance as far as they possibly will, and the athletes are taught and are supervised to minimise the risk. |
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Re: Men's 50km walk. Medically unsound or am I being soft?
posted at 13/8/2012 3:09 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 2948
First: 10/3/2009 Last: 23/5/2013 |
I agree, John. Man needs to go where others have never been. We need to push the boundaries as from there, we see new horizons. That is what makes us such an unique species. Tennyson said it well in his Ulysses. |
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Re: Men's 50km walk. Medically unsound or am I being soft?
posted at 13/8/2012 3:48 AM BST
on bmj.com
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Posts: 5
First: 17/4/2011 Last: 13/8/2012 |
As amateur runner myself I run every day 20 km and sometimes on weekends more, 32-36 km. I consider it healthy physical activity. Use to run 100 km races and marathons. Human population in Europe is generally a bit unfit. |
