CINCINNATI-Some hunters may be at greater risk than the deer.
Taking note of frequent reports of MI and sudden cardiac death among deer hunters, a team at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., put Holter monitors on 10 hunters with known coronary disease to see just what goes on in the woods.
Measured against maximum heart rates on treadmill tests, trudging in the woods triggered peak rates of up to 108%, sighting a deer 114%, shooting and missing 108%, and shooting and hitting 118%. Seven patients shot past 85% of treadmill max for one to 15 minutes continuously, Dr. Barry Franklin told the American College of Sports Medicine meeting here.
In the woods, six patients had arrhythmias unseen during the treadmill test. -David Milne
