Cardio Daze
So I probably haven’t gone more than two days in a row without doing some serious cardio exercise since I was just old enough to go out and play, locked and loaded with only my training wheels and a vivid imagination.
When you’re a kid, running around all the time comes naturally. And if you were growing up back in The Day like me, Sheriff John conducted the video games and they were called cartoons. Don’t know about you guys, but for me, the Mouse and the Duck wore out their welcome in about 15 minutes; Goofy was good for one toon and out. I needed to be outside; I had places to ride and people to antagonize. To this day, the only videos that will slow me down are shown on big screens.
My shingle had been hanging out here in Temple City for only about two months when I came home one night for Saturday dinner with my folks and saw my Dad die in a matter of minutes from a massive heart attack.
I’ll never forget that awful March 6; doubt I’ll ever really recover from it.
And I still love doing my cardio. Always privately thought exercise was my shield; my armor to stuff like heart disease and diabetes (both of which can be found in my family history.)
Even though Dental Assistant Extraordinaire Dani laughs at the mere mention of my ever having played basketball at any time since Naismith invented it, I played roundball almost every day of my life from age 12 to 30.
But approaching apprehensive patients with a handful of experience, power tools, and jammed fingers didn’t seem like the formula for inspiring confidence…or returned visits. So I took up tennis. My idol was John McEnroe.
McEnroe was a little guy and a world-class athlete…with a Universe-class mouth. He dictated the points with a great serve and volley game. He was creative and smart. He didn’t like practicing. He was a punk and he got away with it. I thought we had sooo much in common.
McEnroe’s nemesis and mine was Ivan Lendl. Lendl was mechanical, methodical, and relentless. He wasn’t as physically gifted as McEnroe but he was superbly conditioned. He had no visible personality and if he had ever smiled “train wreck” would have been the first words popping into your cabeza.
So I guess even though I wanted to be McEnroe, I was way more like Lendl. Right down to our cock-eyed teeth and increased risk of early age heart attack.
While I could hope to match McEnroe on the court as a world-class mouth, my athleticism has always been a distant cousin to my conditioning. I’ve always had to work hard and while I definitely have punk potential…I never seem to get away with it.
And until Temple City’s own Doc Fong won his Orthodontic Nobel Prize by unraveling my teeth, my computer Silent Hal had a more pleasing smile than either Ivan or me. As it turns out, Silent Hal was also at less risk for heart attack.
Crowded teeth turn out being safe havens for anaerobic bacteria, the most virulent microbes causing periodontal disease. And in a study published in Circulation, April of 2008, periodontal disease was associated with the incidence of fatal coronary heart disease among younger men, independent of any other cardiovascular risk factors.
The New England Journal of Medicine, March 2007, has also published research showing marked improvement in vascular function only 60 days following periodontal treatment.
Pink gums and straight teeth matter. And the stakes could be length and quality of life. Apparently, even if you’re young, a male, and in good shape.
