Chest Pain in Older Divers

John Bantin's mother always insisted that her kids wait an hour after eating before swimming in case they got the cramps. "But as a diver, I often ate a hearty meal immediately before diving without, I believed, ill effect. Cramp, though uncomfortable, doesn't cause a diver to drown."

It's not as if he was overweight or had chronic health problems. "During my long career as a diving journalist, I was ever aware of my health and on the watch for any signs of ill effects, such as nerve damage or bone necrosis. By the time I was 66, I started to get occasional pains in the chest, but these thorough annual health checks indicated I had admirably low blood pressure, a low heart rate at rest, and a quick recovery time after heavy exercise."

But Bantin's chest pains didn't subside. He thought they were a form of indigestion, since they were related very much to what he had recently eaten. His doctor suggested a gastroscopy [a doctor looks down your stomach with an endoscope] "in case the pain in my esophagus was caused by something more sinister. The results were telling."

To find out what Bantin was diagnosed with -- and how many other divers may have the same condition - read the rest of his commentary, "Chest Pains in Older Divers" on our blog. Go to www.undercurrent.org/blog and Bantin's post is at the top of the page.