In Durango, there’s a big chasm between us average mountain schlubs, who prefer shuffling to power walking, and the athletes, who rip through the roads like speeding winds, whether running or biking.
What can these populations teach each other about the body?
Medically, a lot.
This, anyway is the provocative contention of Durango’s Dr. Bruce Andrea, who says the link between athleticism and medicine is profound but understudied.
Andrea, a cardiologist who owns Durango Performance Center, is investigating the effects of altitude on cyclists’ lungs in a study conducted with the help of four Fort Lewis College exercise science students.
When the lungs are stressed – whether by altitude or pneumonia – the body makes decisions about where to direct blood. That decision varies enormously from body to body. The researchers are hoping to gain a better understanding of why.
As part of the study, they are taking nine people – two women and seven men – and testing how their bodies react when cycling at different altitudes using an echocardiogram. The first phase of the experiment took place in the Durango Performance Center’s second floor office above Guido’s Favorite Food on Main Avenue.
The second phase took place during the weekend on Wolf Creek Pass at nearly 11,000 feet.
While it’s well understood athletes are affected by altitude, Andrea said the spectrum of altitude’s impact is vast, often depending on genetic traits predisposing some bodies to send more or less blood to the lungs.
“The assumption is that some athletes might drop their oxygen at higher altitudes and won’t do as well. But what if the opposite happens?” he said.
Rotem Ishay, director and exercise specialist at the Durango Performance Center, said the cyclists – who were largely recruited through cycling clubs and FLC – are defined as “moderately trained athletes, meaning they train a minimum of eight hours a week and have at least one year of racing experience.”
He said the test puts the cyclists through their paces on a Velotron Ergometer, which is a special stationary bike fit to the athletes’ measurements.
“It’s exhausting because they are reaching the maximal aerobic intensity and stressing their bodies out at the highest level – which is the gold standard for any aerobic athlete,” Ishay said.
Andrea said the research is novel.
“Only in the last five years has the Mayo Clinic” – a giant in American medical research – “been using an echocardiogram to measure performance under exercise stress,” he said. “For years, they didn’t feel the need because they are at sea level. They haven’t seen any of the degree of variance that we’ve seen, because we’re at altitude.”
Josh McDowell, the lead student investigator, said he was excited by the implications of the research. He said the test might reveal why certain athletes are at an advantage at altitude.
Meanwhile, genetically disadvantaged athletes might overcome their predisposition to underperform at altitude by using “vasodilators that are commonly used to for elderly people at altitude,” he said.
Andrea, whose background involves working with the U.S. cycling and cross country ski teams, said the fields of research, medicine and athleticism are cross-pollinating.
Echocardiograms are usually used in medicine, not fitness training.
“I love doing cardiology, and having the opportunity to take that knowledge and apply it to a different venue – there’s a lot of translatable knowledge that works well between groups,” he said.
cmcallister@durangoherald.com
