Fears Mount Over Dangers Of Pumping Iron

In a nation obsessed with looks and fitness, weight lifting is the latest workout craze. Recent studies have shown that lifting can lower blood pressure, combat diabetes and strengthen bones. Bookstore shelves are teeming with new fitness tomes touting weight lifting. Over the three years ended in 2001, participation in weight lifting in the U.S. has risen 12% -- while aerobic exercise declined 2%, according to American Sports Data Inc. Now, however, a small but growing number of researchers are raising concerns about the safety of lifting heavy weights. Such lifting can trigger strokes and aneurysms, and perhaps even cause a highly fatal arterial disease called dissection, believe doctors at prominent health centers such as Yale University School of Medicine and the Stanford University Medical Center.