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The Surprise of a Heart Attack
If hearing about a popular Galesburg High School coach passing away after participating in a road race, despite being in what was believed to be great health, shocks you, it does to an area heart doctor as well.

Doctor Darrell Gumm is a cardiologist with HeartCare Midwest and OSF Heart Hospital in Peoria. He says heart attacks like the one that claimed the life of 41-year old John Chapman while running the Quad-City Times Bix 7 are uncommon, and can certainly be shocking.

But Gumm tells WGIL conditions like those the runners may have been experiencing Saturday in Davenport, could certainly lead to heart problems.

"When it tends to happen, in these extreme situations with extreme heat and humidity, with a demanding physical situation, a person who's just pushing and pushing themselves...one of the things that happens when we're in humidity is that we don't dissipate our heat like we normally would," Gumm said. "The humidity doesn't allow us to get rid of it, which is why we sweat so much. It's like when you sit in the sauna, for instance. You can't dissipate the heat so you tend to sweat more."

Gumm says that, combined with a shift of electrolytes, could cause the heart to go out of rhythm.

He says, however, what we don't know in the case of Chapman is whether or not there are any pre-existing conditions, or history of heart problems in his family.
07 28 10 by Newsroom
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