recently a close family friend passed away due to cardiac arrest. now i wouldnt really wonder why if they were obese or had other health problems but this person didnt. This person was 44 years old and was a very fit athlete. the incident happend during a 150 mile road bike race. around mile 90 she fell into cardiac arrest and passed away before proper care could be given.
she was always very active and was very VERY lean, we used to joke and say she could do fitness competitions the next day without any training. her cholesterol, sugar levels, hormonal levels, all perfect for her age. also no irregular heart conditions. anyone know what could cause this?
also, have you heard of any other cases like this in pro athletes or anyone else?
“The majority of these deaths are due to inherited forms of heart muscle disorder and irregular heart beat. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is the most common of these conditions.”
I don’t know if the cyclist ever had an ECG to detect abnormalities, though this is a likely cause of death. Though, like all things in life, answers are plentiful even though only one is right.
As for other cases, you could search google for some interesting reads; they are not uncommon. A slightly “recent” one (nov 2004) would be http://sport.iafrica.com/news/392409.htm
Hope the knowledge it’s not something isolated helps~
Trust me, this is more common that you would believe. There have been at least 2 top level national athletes in Ireland that I can think of who have died in the last 18 months in a similar way. There have also been sevreal children (up to about 17yo i think) that have dropped dead on the field too.
AKA is right. Many of these arrests are caused by undiagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (IHSS). Normally active people can go many years without even knowing they have it, until its too late. An echocardiogram would confirm the condition if someone has it. They might need a defibrillator if they go into ventricular tachycardia on a regular basis. A nurse I worked with had 2 kids with this condition. The father was found to have it after the kids were diagnosed. Her son needed a defib. implanted after going into arrest twice. He’s fine now, but can’t play any competitive sports. The father had run track in high school without any problems.
That reminds of a comment my doctor made. He went to a seminar where all them pencilnecks come together. Topic of the day was: sudden death and fit people.
Apparantly there are quite a few of healthy, or even ultra-trained young people, who simply keel over.
Most of them are endurance athletes, especially bicyclists.
In terms of the bicyclists being more prone, this is also just from left ventrical hypertrophy. It can also occur to weightlifters who aren’t breathing properly or who never do any cardio to keep their heart healthy. That’s why it is funny to hear people say there is no point to cardio, all you need is diets and weights. While it might be true from a aesthetic stand point, any exercise physiologist in his/her right mind, would strongly disagree.
My condolences to you and your family for your loss. There are many underlying causes of cardiac arrest from pediatric to geriatric. Some are hereditary, some environmental, some preventable, some not. A lot depends on family histroy, present health habits, and previous long term health habits, as well as environment.
-Aaron
[quote]Wreckless wrote:
That reminds of a comment my doctor made. He went to a seminar where all them pencilnecks come together. Topic of the day was: sudden death and fit people.
Apparantly there are quite a few of healthy, or even ultra-trained young people, who simply keel over.
Most of them are endurance athletes, especially bicyclists.[/quote]
hmmmm… but when it happens to a normal person (ie couch patato) it’ just a heart attack.
thanks for the info guys, i will definately look into it more deeply now that i know what the technical name of the conditions are.
they did a tox screen and didnt find any indication that she used any substance that could cause it, so steroids are out to the poster indicating that.
[quote]Kasomak wrote:
recently a close family friend passed away due to cardiac arrest. now i wouldnt really wonder why if they were obese or had other health problems but this person didnt. This person was 44 years old and was a very fit athlete. the incident happend during a 150 mile road bike race. around mile 90 she fell into cardiac arrest and passed away before proper care could be given.
she was always very active and was very VERY lean, we used to joke and say she could do fitness competitions the next day without any training. her cholesterol, sugar levels, hormonal levels, all perfect for her age. also no irregular heart conditions. anyone know what could cause this?
also, have you heard of any other cases like this in pro athletes or anyone else?[/quote]
Very sorry about your loss.
The fact that she was a female in here mid 40’s and an athlete makes this a pretty rare event.
There are some very good posts as to why this might have happened.
The lectures I have attended parallel what TC has written about regarding this phenom, that is, that it may be the often overlooked condition of inflammation.
[quote]TriGWU wrote:
While it might be true from a aesthetic stand point, any exercise physiologist in his/her right mind, would strongly disagree. [/quote]
That’s beginning to not be true. The heart adapts positively to resistance training just like it does to aerobic conditioning; you just have to not be completely sedentary otherwise and not eat like crap to stay healthy from an aerobic standpoint.