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From: warrenf@tekig.UUCP (Warren Finke)
Newsgroups: net.med
Subject: RIP: the running guru
Message-ID: <2214@tekig.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 1-Aug-84 13:22:44 EDT
Article-I.D.: tekig.2214
Posted: Wed Aug  1 13:22:44 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Aug-84 00:24:37 EDT
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 48

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>	Remember Jim Fixx, the prophet of jogging?  He wrote two definitive
>	books on running and was instrumental in the birth of the running
>	craze.  The thesis, of course, is that running is good for you, and
>	many disciples go on to claim that regular running will keep you
>	healthy and help you to live longer.

>	Jim Fixx recently died of a heart attack while jogging.  He was 52
>	years old.

>	So it goes ...

>	  -- Andrew Klossner
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Obviously, ignorance is bliss. This author fails to mention that:

	Writing books on fitness does not make one fit.
	
	Because someone "jogs" he is not necessarily fit, a state
	which requires attention to all phases of life style.

	Jim Fixx did not take up running until he was middle aged,
	having been a 2 pack a day smoker. Research has shown that
	arterial blockage is well advanced on people in their mid
	20s.

	Heart disease ran in his family. His father had his first
	heart attack at 35 and died at 43.

	Fixx had experienced severe symptoms before his attack and
	had chosen to ignore them.  He had even been offered a
	free stress test and refused it.

Given Fixx's risk factors, one could probably make a case for
saying he lived about 10 years longer than he should have. He
might still be around if he had heeded his symptoms.  In any
case, success in life isn't measured by how long you live but
by what you do and the enjoyment you give yourself and others.

If Jim Fixx has saved even a few people from their dull inactive
middle age and early death, he's lived a better life than most
of us.

		- Warren Finke @ Tektronix Beaverton OR.