Study: Firefighting Leads To Stiffening Of Arteries
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Firefighting may be even more dangerous a job than we already knew.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, a medical study by the Illinois Fire Service Institute at the University of Illinois indicates that the arteries of firefighters – even young firefighters – take a pounding and stiffen in three hours of work at a fire.
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The study in the journal Vascular Medicine indicates that the U of I researchers found that the temporary changes in the arteries are similar to those for people who do resistance training or aerobic exercise.
What is not clear is whether that artery stiffness contributes to heart attacks that happen right after fires.
The participants in the study were medically cleared for the study, but many were overweight. They were all men, and ranged in age from 19 to 48 with an average age of 29.
Researchers Gavin Horn of the Fire Service Institute, and Bo Fernhall, a professor of kinesiology, conducted the study.
Last year, according to the National Fire Protection Association, there were 72 on-duty firefighter deaths. Thirty-nine of them were related to stress or other medical issues, and 34 were said to be heart-related.
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