Sinus Bradycardia, Life Insurance, and Cycling

A short interruption of my dormant blog state to share a new learning.  Recently I looked into changing my life insurance policy and underwent a physical exam as part of the qualification.  A professional came to our house and administered the typical various common tests, including an EKG.

Today I received a letter from the insurance company stating:

After careful review, we are sorry to inform you that we have found it necessary to postpone this application.  The reason for this decision is as follows:

• Cardiac Studies – EKG with significant sinus bradycardia.

Such letter gets your attention…  I quickly looked up “sinus bradycardia” (thank you Internet!): two Greek words “Bradus” = slow; and “Kardia” = heart.  “Sinus” is Latin and you recall from math that sinus = wave, rhythm. So there you have it: (abnormally) “slow heart rate,” which apparently is anything below 60bpm, as for “most people, a resting heart rate between 60 to 100bpm is normal.”

I started feeling better…  Sinus Bradycardia can be a sign of fitness and being well trained.  My resting heart rate is about 42 (and it’s a great marker of fatigue: it was 49 on Monday after two intense weekend rides–each with TSS of 200+).

When I forwarded the letter to my agent, he wrote:

Hi Jan,

I found out early last week and that is when we went to bat for you and had the chief medical director review the case and issue you the preferred policy at the lowest rate possible – so everything is taken care of.  You can recycle that letter!

All’s well that ends well…