Long Q Interval Any swimmer's out there who have this?

Bob, Gull is a cardiologist with infinitely more expertise on this subject than laymen like me. I am not sure exactly what he means about exercise not strengthening the heart, nor lack of exercise not weakening it. In extreme weight lifting, the chamber walls of the heart clearly undergo enlargement, or hypertrophy, though apparently not of the same harmful sort seen in long time victims of high blood pressure. Extreme endurance athletes, on the other hand, increase the interior volume of their heart pumping chambers, along with an increase in blood volume--one reason why resting heart rate in trained athletes tends to go down (they can move more blood with each single pump beat.) Perhaps these adaptations do not qualify as "strengthening" the heart in some technical sense. But in the more commonly understood meaning of "strengthen," it does seem to me that exercise makes most hearts more efficient, resilient, and, well, stronger, than the unexercised heart. Amy, I think, is correct in saying that there is risk to anything. Clearly, if the data indicated having this syndrome increases risk significantly, you shouldn't ignore it. On the other hand, I would love to see some actual figures. Not just Long Q's impact generally, but broken down by genetic subtype, the presence or absence of family history, the presence or absence of symptoms, etc. Back doctors used to believe that herniated disks were the cause of excruciating back pain in many of their patients. The reason: many people complaining of excruciating back pain have herniated disks. However, some enterprising researchers decided to look at normal people without back pain. What they found was fascinating: virtually the same percentage of pain free individuals had herniated disks as those suffering hellacious symptoms. I wonder how many people are going thru their lives, like you did until recently, completely unaware of having even a chance of Long Q syndrome. How many of these never develop problems and die eventually from unrelated causes, their Long Q never having been noted? Gull, do you know the answer to Robin's question--i.e., how can she calculate her own risk? Perhaps I am being hopelessly naive here, but one of the quotes that has helped me quite a bit in handling medical uncertainties is this one from the stoical philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, who lived long before human cardiovascular function was known in the slightest: Never surpass the sense of your original impressions. Perhaps they tell you that a certain person speaks ill of you. That was their sole message; they did not go on to say that you have been harmed by him. Perhaps I see my child suffers illness; my eyes tell me so but do not tell me his life is in danger. Always keep to your original impressions; add no interpretation of your own and you remain safe. Or at the most add a recognition of the great world order by means of which all things come to pass. For what it's worth, my eyes do not tell me that Bobinator even suffers illness; in no way do I fear that her life is in danger. Keep swimming, tell the lifeguard and pool manager about your diagnosis when and if (a huge if, in my opinion) it is confirmed by genetic testing, and ask that they keep the AED handy (which they should be anyhow.) Tell your teammates, too, and maybe even ask the coach to take a quick course in how to use the AED. If you develop an arrythmia, they can zap it back to normal and then you can decide whether it makes sense to continue in the sport. But I just don't think you should quit because of a theoretical elevation of odds of something you may or may not have, and which even if you do have, may or may not pose any risk to someone who has been active her whole life without any incident whatsoever so far. That is my opinion!

Bob, Gull is a cardiologist with infinitely more expertise on this subject than laymen like me. I am not sure exactly what he means about exercise not strengthening the heart, nor lack of exercise not weakening it. In extreme weight lifting, the chamber walls of the heart clearly undergo enlargement, or hypertrophy, though apparently not of the same harmful sort seen in long time victims of high blood pressure. Extreme endurance athletes, on the other hand, increase the interior volume of their heart pumping chambers, along with an increase in blood volume--one reason why resting heart rate in trained athletes tends to go down (they can move more blood with each single pump beat.) Perhaps these adaptations do not qualify as "strengthening" the heart in some technical sense. But in the more commonly understood meaning of "strengthen," it does seem to me that exercise makes most hearts more efficient, resilient, and, well, stronger, than the unexercised heart. Amy, I think, is correct in saying that there is risk to anything. Clearly, if the data indicated having this syndrome increases risk significantly, you shouldn't ignore it. On the other hand, I would love to see some actual figures. Not just Long Q's impact generally, but broken down by genetic subtype, the presence or absence of family history, the presence or absence of symptoms, etc. Back doctors used to believe that herniated disks were the cause of excruciating back pain in many of their patients. The reason: many people complaining of excruciating back pain have herniated disks. However, some enterprising researchers decided to look at normal people without back pain. What they found was fascinating: virtually the same percentage of pain free individuals had herniated disks as those suffering hellacious symptoms. I wonder how many people are going thru their lives, like you did until recently, completely unaware of having even a chance of Long Q syndrome. How many of these never develop problems and die eventually from unrelated causes, their Long Q never having been noted? Gull, do you know the answer to Robin's question--i.e., how can she calculate her own risk? Perhaps I am being hopelessly naive here, but one of the quotes that has helped me quite a bit in handling medical uncertainties is this one from the stoical philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, who lived long before human cardiovascular function was known in the slightest: Never surpass the sense of your original impressions. Perhaps they tell you that a certain person speaks ill of you. That was their sole message; they did not go on to say that you have been harmed by him. Perhaps I see my child suffers illness; my eyes tell me so but do not tell me his life is in danger. Always keep to your original impressions; add no interpretation of your own and you remain safe. Or at the most add a recognition of the great world order by means of which all things come to pass. For what it's worth, my eyes do not tell me that Bobinator even suffers illness; in no way do I fear that her life is in danger. Keep swimming, tell the lifeguard and pool manager about your diagnosis when and if (a huge if, in my opinion) it is confirmed by genetic testing, and ask that they keep the AED handy (which they should be anyhow.) Tell your teammates, too, and maybe even ask the coach to take a quick course in how to use the AED. If you develop an arrythmia, they can zap it back to normal and then you can decide whether it makes sense to continue in the sport. But I just don't think you should quit because of a theoretical elevation of odds of something you may or may not have, and which even if you do have, may or may not pose any risk to someone who has been active her whole life without any incident whatsoever so far. That is my opinion!