Sudden death: what causes it and how to avoid
Written by:Any athlete who do sport regularly must perform regular checks. The fundamental tests are electrocardiogram, a stress test and an echocardiogram, which are performed by the specialist Cardiology .
In the vast majority of cases, adequate medical history and physical examination, together with the above tests, they can detect heart disease predisposing cause sudden death related to sport.
Causes of sudden death
Sudden death is the sudden and unexpected onset of cardiac arrest in a person who is apparently healthy and in good condition. Usually it is due to ventricular fibrillation, malignant cardiac arrhythmia.
This produces a chaotic arrhythmia cardiac electrical activity that is not able to generate cash heartbeat.
Ventricular fibrillation is rare in healthy hearts. In persones over 35 years, the most common cause is acute myocardial infarction. In young people is often related to previous heart disease that can affect both the heart muscle (cardiomyopathies, including most often associated is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) as the electrical activity of the same (ion channel, as Brugada syndrome or long QT syndrome).
Avoiding sudden death
The vast majority of patients suffering sudden death and receive no medical care die in a few minutes. It is therefore essential immediately to notify emergency services and start effective CPR as soon as possible.
