Re: Cardiologist too conservative?

Truth <yamantaka@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:

> On May 30, 11:33 am, Jason Earl <je...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> Truth <yamant...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
>>
>> -snip-
>>
>> > Any treadmill that I've ever used for patients' exercise treadmill
>> > testing (ETT or "stress test") is a proprietary one that is attached
>> > to a computer and cardiac monitoring system, and sold/serviced by a
>> > medical device company. The treadmill automatically increases in
speed
>> > and grade depending on what protocol I'm using.
>>
>> Thanks for this response.  I haven't had a stress test in years, and I
>> was interested to see how well I would do on one.  Actually, I would
>> like to be able to do a stress test every few weeks and see how my
>> regular workouts are effecting my ability to perform this specific
test.
>>
>> Basically, I think that this sort of test sounds like quite a bit of
>> fun.
>>
>> The problem is that I don't really want to involve a doctor.  Not that
I
>> have anything against doctors.  I just don't want to go through the
>> expense and hassle of going to the doctor just so that I can see how
>> long I can run on his treadmill.  After all, I'm not sick, nor am I
some
>> sort of elite athlete whose continued progress would justify involving
>> doctors.
>>
>> That being the case, finding a treadmill that can be programmed to
>> increase speed and incline at known intervals is easy.  Finding one
that
>> has a 20% incline (or more) appears to be another story.  Even the
fancy
>> ones at my local fitness club don't do that.
>>
>> Oh well, I might just have to create my own "Jason" protocol that adds
>> less incline and more speed.
>>
>> > But aside from that, they look pretty much like a treadmill one would
>> > find in a health club.
>>
>> The treadmill part is probably manufactured by the same people,
although
>> the inclines involved are definitely not standard.
>>
>> > The computer gives a constant, realtime print out of the patient's
EKG
>> > tracing and periodically makes a hard copy for the treadmill test
>> > re****t.
>>
>> I don't need anything that fancy.
>>
>> Once again, thank you very much.  That was helpful.
>>
>> Jason
>
> The purpose of a medical ETT is not to see how fit a healthy person is
> or to see how long one can run. They are ordered to answer clinical
> questions such as, 1) is there cardiac ischemia due to fixed blockages
> of coronary arteries 2) are the symptoms of chest pain or shortness of
> breath a patient is experiencing due to a cardiac cause 3) are there
> abnormal heart rythyms when the patient exercises 4) Is a cardiac
> patient able to safely do a certain level of exertion.

Perhaps I should have provided a little more backstory.

My interest in treadmill fitness tests was triggered by some research
that I read that showed that fitness (as measured by a treadmill stress
test) was a more im****tant factor in predicting mortality than body mass
index.  According to this study being heavy wasn't necessarily a bad
thing.  People that scored in the top quintile of the stress test had
high survival rates even if they were big.

So, at least in this particular research study the purpose of the stress
test was to measure fitness.

I'm posting from misc.fitness.weights, a place where standard BMI ratios
have always been viewed with skepticism.  I like being big, and research
that says that carrying a little extra weight isn't particularly
detrimental to my long term health is welcome news.  The paper did,
however, make me more than a little curious as to how I would do on a
standardized stress test.

The more I looked into the Bruce protocol, the more it sounded like both
an interesting way to *****s my level of cardiovascular fitness, and a
fun workout.  Unfortunately, most treadmills only incline to 10% and
even really expensive models usually only go to 15% and the Bruce
protocol requires 16% after only 12 minutes.

> There is no medical reason to put a healthy person on a treadmill and
> monitor him just to see how long he can run or to repeat this at
> monthly intervals to see how much progress he is making in his work
> outs. No insurance pays for such a service anyway.

I wasn't expecting my insurance to pay for it.  Heck, I am surprised
when my insurance covers *anything*, but I certainly wasn't expecting
someone else to pay for this sort of test.  I assumed that I would have
to write someone a check.

Of course, that's also part of the reason that I am not particularly
interested in having a doctor involved.  My heart is fine.  I just want
to measure the effectiveness of my exercise regimen.  Unfortunately,
from my own research it would appear that the Bruce protocol requires
inclines that aren't sup****ted by most commercial treadmills (even gym
quality ones).

That's why I joked about a modified "Jason" protocol that was designed
around the capabilities of the treadmills more commonly found in gyms.

Once again, thanks for your input.

Jason