Sports related cardiac deaths are very sudden and most scientists don’t know why they occur, but researchers are conducting many studies to try to determine the exact cause. What happens when an athlete that is in the best of physical health suffers a sudden cardiac death? The sudden death leaves the community, team, and family shocked and devastated and looking for answers. There has been many studies done trying to determine why athletes suffer sudden cardiac arrest.
Although sudden cardiac deaths are believed to be uncommon, the frequency with which such deaths occur remains largely unknown. (Maron; Pelliccia; Aeppli p.1881) A cardiac arrest is when a person’s heart stops pumping. When a person’s heart stops pumping blood doesn’t flow around their body and oxygen doesn’t reach their brian like it normally should. If an athlete suffers a cardiac arrest and their heart stops pumping for a period of time, then they are most likely not to recover.The frequency of sudden cardiac death in high school athletes is reported as 1:180,000-1:200,000, with 90% of these deaths occurring during training or competition. (Subasic p.18)
Sudden cardiac death in young athletes was first reported in 1980s and defined as cardiovascular event that occurred during physical activity or within hours of physical activity without awareness of underlying cardiac abnormalities. (Subasic p.18) As the years have gone by, sudden cardiac deaths have occurred more frequently then in the 1980s. Scientists have been researching why exactly athletes suffer from cardiac arrest, and still most scientists haven’t found a clear and direct reason on why they occur. Although initially reported in the United States in the early 1980s, the causes of sudden death in ...
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...orrado; Drezner; Basso; Pelliccia; Thiene p. 200 ) Some studies have actually shown that the ECG screening is considered to be a poor screening tool for the athlete because it isn’t always accurate.
The United States performed their own study in Minnesota of college and high school athletes trying to see the rate of sudden cardiac arrest. The athletes in Minnesota did not undergo ECG screening, unlike the athletes in Italy. I have compared the results of the two studies which have taken place around the same time period. I found out that there were 12 deaths in the Veneto, Italy region, where the screening took place, compared to only 11 deaths in Minneosta, where there was no screening. ( Corrado; Drezner; Basso; Pelliccia; Thiene p. 199 ) With that observation it is clear on why the United States do not perform the expensive ECG screening, like Italy requires.
In recognizing the risks of commotio cordis, it is vital to discuss who commotio cordis predominantly occurs in. Commotio cordis is most often seen in young male athletes, in whom a sudden, blunt, nonpenetrating and innocent-appearing trauma to the anterior chest wall which r...
Heart disease is one of the most common causes of the mortality and morbidity in most well developed countries. They come in different forms such as stroke and other cardiovascular diseases and it’s the number one cause of death in the state of America. In the year 2011 alone nearly 787,000 people were killed as a result of this epidemic. And this included Hispanic, Africans, whites and Americans. As for the Asian Americans or pacific Islanders, American Indians and the natives of Alaska, the concept to them was a second only to cancer. However, statistics has proved that a person gets heart attack every 34 seconds and in every 60 seconds, someone dies out of it which include other related event. Additionally, majority of the women are the
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Effects on Young Athletes Alyssa Trimm 130568370 Wilfrid Laurier University Dr. Kalmar KP 122 Section A
Loyola University Health System. "College athletes putting themselves at risk for long-term health problems." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 15 May 2014. .
In communities throughout Contra Costa County in the state of California, several cities have experienced tragedies of teens that have died due to sudden cardiac death and lack of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or defibrillator use. In December 2009, a 15 year-old Dairus Jones from Pittsburgh High School died after going into sudden cardiac arrest on the basketball court (Darius Jones Foundation, 2011) and in January 2010, 15-year-old Calvary Christian Academy student Joshua Ellison, of El Sobrante, died after collapsing at a basketball game (Contra Costa Times, 2010).
Shaun White is an Olympic medalist and daredevil. “White was born with four heart abnormalities causing him to go through two open-heart surgeries before he was a year old” (Good Housekeeping). This condition is termed “tetralogy of Fallot – a term that describes a combination of heart defects including a hole between the pumping chambers of the heart and an abnormally narrowed valve and surrounding structures that link the right side of the heart to the lungs” (Learn). “The causes of tetralogy of Fallot among babies are unknown. Heart defects such as tetralogy of Fallot are thought to be caused by a combination of genes and other risk factors including the environment the mother comes in contact with” (CDC). The pulmonary circuit of the respiratory system is affected. In this circuit the oxygenated blood is moved from the lungs to the right side of the heart. In the early medicine era, “doctors created a shunt by disconnecting an artery leading to the arm, reconnecting it to the lungs” (Learn). Surgery is needed in order to correct the defects. “White had surgery as a baby and says he’s grateful to his doctors. Even after successful surgery, patients with tetralogy of Fallot face a greater risk of serious heart problems. [White must] get regular checkups to monitor his heart throughout his lifetime” (Mayberry). “During su...
The study of cardio physiology was broken up into five distinct parts all centering on the cardiovascular system. The first lab was utilization of the electrocardiogram (ECG). This studied the electrical activities of the heart by placing electrodes on different parts of the skin. This results in a graph on calibrated paper of these activities. These graphs are useful in the diagnosis of heart disease and heart abnormalities. Alongside natural heart abnormalities are those induced by chemical substances. The electrocardiogram is useful in showing how these chemicals adjust the electrical impulses that it induces.
Since 1960 the age-adjusted mortality rates for cardiovascular disease (CVD) has declined steadily in the U.S. due to multiple factors, but still remains one of the primary causes of morbidity and premature mortality worldwide. Greater control of risk factors and improved treatments for cardiovascular disease has significantly contributed to this decline (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). In the U.S. alone it claims approximately 830,000 each year and accounts for 1/6 of all deaths under the age of 65 (Weiss and Lonnquist, 2011). Based on the 2007 mortality rate data an average of 1 death every 37 seconds is due to cardiovascular disease (Lloyd-Jones et al., 2009). Controlling and reducing risk factors is crucial for saving lives. There are a number of contributing risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which may appear in the form of hereditary, behavioral, and psychological, all of which ultimately converge in social or cultural factors.
One of the leading causes of death in the United States is heart disease. “Approximately every 29 seconds one American will have a heart attack, and once a minute one American will die from a heart attack” (Ford-Martin and Odle, 915). According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine men over the age of 45 and women over the age of 55 are considered at risk for heart disease. Heart disease is a major cause of death. It is beneficial to individuals who seek to prevent heart disease to recognize the risks leading to heart attacks as they are one of the primary indications of developing heart disease; especially those that fall into the at risk age groups. These risks consist of some that cannot be changed such as heredity risks, or those that can change such as smoking habits. It is very important to know these specific risks for prevention and to understand the symptoms of heart attacks, such as sweating or the feeling of weakness so if these or other symptoms occur people are aware. Finally heart disease treatment is of vital importance if you experience a heart attack so you can learn how to prevent another one from occurring.
Over the years 1930 and 1961, out of 75 people died attempting extreme sports. In the article “A solemn Warning to Wingsuit Flyers” it shows a little chat that explains how other sports are dangerous, and cause a lot of deaths. There are so many
To achieve a degree in Athletic Training, there are many tasks and skills to be learned. The Education Council under the National Athletic Training Association put together an education program filled with a set of guidelines of what has to be taught to graduate with a degree in Athletic Training. Before you can learn and understand Athletic Training, you must know the Anatomy and Physiology of the human body. This includes bones, muscles, levels of organization, tissue levels, systems of the body, skeletal structure, articulations, integrative functions, sensory function, blood, and embryology (Martini, 2001). Besides Anatomy and Physiology, the methods of taping is also extremely critical to this career. Before you can understand what each taping techniques are used for, you must also know about sports injuries. Athletic Training is all about the prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and evaluation of athletic injuries. Another skill that must be learned in the Athletic Training Education Program is how to provide immediate emergency care. That includes everything from background information to actually being able to save an athlete’s or any one else’s life. You must be aware of legal considerations, how and when to approach a victim, the human body systems, examining the victim, basic life support, bleeding and shock, identifying wounds, sudden illnesses, injuries, and how to care for them; also you must be aware of cold and heat related injuries, and how to rescue and move victims (Thygerson, 2001). Other information to be learned includes nutrition, health, and professional development. There are several other topics of Athletic Training; however, there are just to many to s...
To determine if the intensity of exercise affects the heart rate of a 15-year-old boy. Apparatus - 2 stopwatches - 1 laptop (beep test) - 1 fire glass tape (min. 20 meters) - Chalk to mark 20 meters (start to finish). Method 1) Get beep test ready on laptop from - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0U_yQITBks - 2) Bring five male subjects ready at the starting line to run the beep test. 3) Mark 20 meters on the ground outside on the AstroTurf using a long tape.
The two major things that will help an athlete while measuring the cardiovascular drift are progression and hydration levels. The heart rate of an athlete working hard during a workout should be no more than their maximum heart rate which is found by, if you’re a female take 226-age, if you’re a male take 220-age. If while doing a workout the maximum heart rate is exceeded by too much it may be necessary to take a break or slow down greatly. This may also help with traking the hydration of an athlete. If an athlete stays hydrated their core temperature will stay regulated which means they won’t sweat as much, which also means the heart won’t be under as much stress while transporting the oxygenated blood throughout the body to the
Many athletes are pressured into using PEDs by coaches or managers and are not thoroughly educated about the harmful health issues that can come along with taking performance-enhancing drugs. A rising issue is whether performance-enhancing drugs should be allowed in professional sports. I believe that in any professional sport, the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes should continue to be banned because this rule will help to keep athletes from abusing these harmful drugs. Steroids can seem harmless to the uninformed user, but they actually have harmful side effects. According to the article “News examines relationship between steroids and heart-related deaths,” published by New York Daily News, “The study (presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago on Nov. 12, 2006) shows that deaths jumped from 476 from in 1980-1992 to 987 from in 1993-2005.