Lactate test - Wacky results part 2

gsmacleod - 2009-10-27 11:09 AM Can/has the equipment been calibrated?

Shane

pga_mike - 2009-10-27 1:27 PM

Yes, it has been, and it measure my wife's two days ago.  Very normal reading for her test.

My coach has NEVER seen anything like this.

Scout7 - 2009-10-27 5:41 PM

Sounds complicated.

Why doesn't your coach propose an alternative option to using this device?

gsmacleod - 2009-10-27 4:43 PM

Because if you have paid for one, you better use it...

http://www.google.com/products?q=lactate%20analyzer&rls=com.microsoft:en-ca&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wf

Shane

Scout7 - 2009-10-27 5:50 PM

Even so, I would think that setting up your athlete's training trumps playing with gadgets, yes?  At least, in my book it would.  But I'm weird.

pga_mike - 2009-10-27 11:05 AM Ok, so I take 2 days off training completely.  Go for my LT test this morning.

11.2 at rest, then walking brings it into the 2's.  Running for 6 minutes at 165 HR & 8:12 MM barely gets it above 4.

Coach is baffled and thinks that I need to visit the Doctor.

Does anyone know of a reason for this type of anomaly?

tjfry - 2009-10-27 5:17 PM


was resting tested first or after some form of exercise? It looks like he missed it by a decimal. Does he have to do any additional calcuations beyond the laptop, b/c a 1.12 mmol would seem to be inline.
If not my only other thought was that there was something done 5 minutes or so beforehand that caused the accumulation and it wasn't until you moved around that it was cleared.

Different type of test but similar moral to the story: I had some heart issues way back and when I did my first stress test I was told to hold the bar while walking and then I let go as I started to run. Well adding my arm movement into the equation caused a spike in HR and baffled everyone until about 2 weeks later when it came to me. Did the test again with holding the bar at all and the test was normal.

Think about all the details of the testing. Were you holding something heavy in that hand prior? Writing a lot? Clenched fist for an extended period while they drew blood? anything that might cause accumulation before the exercising cleared it?

AdventureBear - 2009-10-27 10:45 PM it's just bad data. you're doctor won't know what to do with you. if you had a resting lactate of 11, you'd be dead shortly... My 2 cents. lab testing of lactate isn't needed to establish training zones, after all you are training in the "field", so field tests shoudl suffice.

AdventureBear - 2009-10-28 12:45 AM

it's just bad data.

pga_mike - 2009-10-28 8:23 AM


I hope not!

Wouldn't a physician want to investigate?

Twice, my resting lactate has been over 8.  Both times, with walking, it immediately dropped into the 2's.

AdventureBear - 2009-10-28 10:27 AM Physicians are not taught about resting lactate, you'll just confuse him/her. It's not hard to order a lab lactate value though. But making a fist is not going to increase your lactate level so there is no need to sit totally still for 30 minutes prior to the test. It may have had more to do with it being the 2nd sample rather than the fact that you were walking. Have him (coach) take 2-3 resting lactate levels after following the same usual proceedure to obtain blood.

AdventureBear - 2009-10-28 10:27 AM Physicians are not taught about resting lactate, you'll just confuse him/her. It's not hard to order a lab lactate value though. But making a fist is not going to increase your lactate level so there is no need to sit totally still for 30 minutes prior to the test. It may have had more to do with it being the 2nd sample rather than the fact that you were walking. Have him (coach) take 2-3 resting lactate levels after following the same usual proceedure to obtain blood.

tjfry - 2009-10-28 5:56 PM

I have no interest in sighting sources etc, but anywhere glucose is being converted has the potential to create lactate. So if you are clenching the ball/working hand muscles and then a sample is taken from that blood, it would seem to me that you would get an inaccurate reading.

gsmacleod - 2009-10-28 7:25 PM



I believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) that due to the nature of the circulatory system, blood is a mostly homogenous mixture with the notable exception being venous blood being CO2 rich and artial blood being O2 rich.  I believe that approximately 75mL of blood leaves the left ventricle on each beat and an average human has about 5L of blood in their system; therefore each beat moves 1.5% of the blood through the aorta to the rest of the body.

As a result, any lactate that is transferred to the blood will quickly leave the area and mix with blood throughout the body so you don't have a build up in the blood around a working muscle.  If this were not the case, it would be useless to take blood from a finger during a run/cycle test as the lactate would be concentrated in the legs and the fingertip sample would be meaningless.

Shane