Goldengirl

Melody snapped her features into an intelligent response. ‘Certainly, Mr. Dryden.’ When he had said goodnight and turned away, she added wryly to herself, ‘That will definitely be all, Miss Fryer.’

In the New York Institute of Sports Medicine next morning, Dryden put this question to the Director, Dr. Fassendean: ‘What are the symptoms of overstrain in an athlete?’

Dr. Fassendean, a small man in his thirties with a startling crop of red hair, smiled indulgently. ‘You might as well ask me how you cook eggs. You’ll have to be more specific than that, my friend.’

‘I’m thinking of an athlete who might have trained too hard. A runner.’

‘Long distance?’

‘Sprints, actually.’

‘Not common at all,’ said Dr. Fassendean. ‘You don’t mean muscular injuries? The hamstring is the classic sprinting injury.’

‘This isn’t a muscular thing,’ said Dryden. ‘I’m wondering if it has to do with the cardiovascular system.’

‘Athlete’s heart?’ Dr. Fassendean chuckled. ‘Good old athlete’s heart. That’s been running longer than any athlete I know. It’s a rare condition, actually. I’ve seen electrocardiograms showing overstrain of the heart’s left ventricle, which I guess is what is generally known as athlete’s heart, but modern knowledge of training methods is rapidly eliminating the syndrome among serious athletes. The dabbler in track is more at risk.’

‘But what are the symptoms?’

‘Acute overstrain manifests itself quite dramatically,’ said Dr. Fassendean. ‘Asthenia develops rapidly, as well as a syncope at times, vertigo, vomiting, lowering of the arterial blood pressure, dilatation of the heart. Look, maybe it would save us both some time if you described the symptoms your athlete has. I guess they’re a little different, huh?’

Dryden nodded. ‘Well, it started with a sensation of heaviness in the limbs after a fairly intensive series of competitions.’

‘Nothing too alarming in that.’

‘Dry throat,’ Dryden went on. ‘Tiredness, excessive thirst, some loss of weight.’

‘This athlete eating normally?’

‘I understand so.’

‘But drinking plenty?’

‘Yes.’

‘Urinating frequently?’

‘Now you mention it, yes.’

‘That’s no heart condition. Get a physician to run a blood-sugar test. Sounds like diabetes to me.’

‘Diabetes?’ Dryden mouthed the word without giving it credence. ‘Could that be caused by overtraining?’

Dr. Fassendean shook his head. ‘Caused, no. Not directly. If an athlete has the disease, it’s more likely to reveal itself under stress conditions, like training. Physical malfunctions of any kind tend to become more readily detectable in the trained athlete. That doesn’t mean athletics causes them. Plenty of people have mild forms of diabetes without realizing it. Around two-and-a-half-million Americans are registered diabetics, and surveys suggest almost as many again are undiagnosed. If those people took part in sports, there’s a good chance their condition would be detected.’

Figures were spinning in Dryden’s brain. Two-and-a-half-million diabetics. $200,000,000. ‘Diabetes,’ he repeated mechanically. ‘That’s when the body can’t absorb sugar, isn’t it?’

‘Starches, sugar, yes,’ Dr. Fassendean confirmed. ‘The pancreas — the gland at the back of the abdomen below the lower part of the stomach — fails to produce enough of the hormone insulin, and as a consequence excessive amounts of sugar accumulate in the blood and urine. Left untreated, the poisons in the blood attack the brain, inducing a state of coma and ultimately death. With the help of diet and drugs, insulin especially, it can be effectively controlled.’

‘There’s no cure?’

‘None,’ said Dr. Fassendean. ‘Before insulin treatment was discovered in the twenties, it was a death sentence.’

‘Do we know what causes the pancreas to stop functioning?’

‘Not really. Just that certain stress conditions seem to make it more likely. If there’s a potential weakness there, obesity appears to aggravate it. Pregnancy is another stress factor, and so is growth.’

‘Growth?’ Dryden seised on the word.

‘Sure. Diabetes is often diagnosed during the adolescent growth spurt. There’s research evidence showing that young people who develop the disease are characteristically at least twelve months ahead of the average in the onset of growth. But look, it wouldn’t be wise to make presumptions in advance of a proper diagnosis. My interpretation of the symptoms you describe may be wrong. A blood-sugar test would settle the matter.’

‘Thanks, Doctor. I’ll see that one is carried out. I’m grateful for your advice.’

In the entrance hall of the Institute, he looked at his watch: 12:15 P.M. In the Pacific Time Zone, it would be 9:15 A.M. He went to a phone booth and called a Bakersfield number.

‘The California Institute? I’d like to speak to Professor Walsh, please. Yes, it’s very important.’

Her voice came over crisp and efficient. ‘Stephanie Walsh. Who is this?’

He pictured the half-smile under the fringe. ‘Dryden. Jack Dryden. I called at the College — sorry, Institute — a few weeks back. There was some, er, confusion over my identity.’