Four Pulmonologists Run a Half Marathon…

Kudos to Lisa Domaradzki, Susie Vehar and Irina Gutierrez (L to R) for running ahead of me and making sure the path was clean for yours truly.

Every year, the Miami Marathon holds its annual race where the half marathon runs East from downtown Miami to Miami Beach and back with a breathtaking sunrise to kick off the day. However, what takes your breath is running 13.1 miles in the Southern Florida heat. Gives me a small glimpse of how hard it must be on patients who experience shortness of breath daily.  Because when I stop running, I eventually catch my breath and can do the things I want to do. But anyone who is short of breath every time they exert themselves or worse, at rest, are limited from being short of breath.

Data show at least 50% of patients with COPD are depressed. Partly because the disease has robbed them of their ability to easily do the things they need to, or want to do. And that’s not fair.

Experiencing shortness of breath like this for 2 hours and 50 minutes (yeah, I’m not setting land speed records but I finished) reminds me of several things.

First, its terrible that some people need to lug around oxygen to breath but its worse when we react negatively to their plight.

Second, although smoking cigarettes is a major risk factor for many breathing disorders, we must remember its not the fault of the smoker for smoking. Tobacco cigarettes were engineered and marketed to get people addicted to nicotine. Lets not blame a smoker for their nicotine addiction. Lets be kind and help them overcome their addiction for their health and the health of others.

And finally, lets not forget that the great advancements in our health come from clinical studies that require great effort from so many people to pull off successfully. Just like a marathon takes people to run, cheer, set up, clean up, pass out drinks or attend to the passed out, clinical trials also need participants to run, recruiters to cheer, study coordinators to set up, data analysts to clean up and scientists to pass out their knowledge to the world. In the end, many people in Miami came together and pulled off another successful marathon while Punxsutawney Phil came out of his hole and saw his darn shadow. Six more weeks of winter says the varmint. Doesn’t seem possible on Sunday but then again winter always feels different in Miami.