A recent story published in the LA Times (Jeannine Stein, 11/23/09) suggests that comprehensive screenings could be the answer to the tragedy of a young athlete dying of an undiagnosed heart condition.  Health histories and screenings were conducted on 134 Maryland high school athletes attending the state track and field championships in 2008. 

Dr. Aurelio Pinheiro of the the Johns Hopkins School of medicine and his colleagues were specifically looking for cardiac abnormalities such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart muscle that makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood.

Of the 134 athletes tested (tests included an echocardiogram, an EKG, blood pressure, and health history), abnormalities of some kind were found in 36 athletes.  Of those 36, 22 were found via EKG alone and five by both tests. 

Dr. Pinheiro states that these findings argue for routine testing of athletes, suggesting that such testing should be comprehensive and not reliant on just an EKG or an echocardiogram.  

This study was presented at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific sessions conference in Orlando, Florida in November, 2009.

When we hear of sudden cardiac arrest, we rarely think of bulimia.  However, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and bulimia can be a deadly combination.  Read this heartbreaking story of “Sara” (4HCM.org) written by her mother, Miv London, PhD, University of Vermont Counseling Center. 

“On August 3, 2006, my daughter, Sara was exercising on the treadmill in the basement of my home, when she collapsed and died of sudden cardiac arrest.  Sara was 19 years old.  She had been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at age 12.  She had been under the regular care of a cardiologist, and over the years had displayed neither symptoms nor risk factors for sudden death.  However, Sara did have a risk factor that most likely contributed to her death.  Sara had an eating disorder.  In her early teens, she had restricted her food intake and lost a significant amount of weight.  More disturbing, at age 16, she began to binge and purge.  She struggled on and off with bulimia for the years leading up to her death.  The most common causes of death for anorexics are starvation, cardiac complications, and suicide.  Bulimia is also dangerous, though  far less lethal in the general population.  However, for HCM patients, the greatest danger of bulimia is dehydration due to frequent vomiting, and subsequent electrolyte imbalance, which can lead to life-threatening arrhythmias.  This is likely what caused Sara’s death.”

Resources for education, information, and advice: www.edreferral.com; www.aafp.org; www.helpguide.org

Zoe’s Kitchen, Arboretum, (next to Gap Kids and Renaissance Hotel) has offered to help us raise money and awareness about our Foundation by offering a $1.00, $5.00 and $10.00 paper “angel” to hang in their restaurant with your name on it.  Make any donation and get a reusable travel cup for $0.99 – FREE REFILLS!

Zoe’s Kitchen offers recipes created from scratch by Zoe Cassimus’ real life kitchen -  a place livened by her love of family and warm hospitality.  Zoe’s offerings are simple, close-to-the-garden ingredients and incredibly delicious!

Championship Hearts Foundation has experienced some of these offerings firsthand.  We have used Zoe’s for our catering needs and our Board Members loved it!  Especially the chocolate cake – just like Grandma’s!

Thank you, Zoe’s Kitchen, for sharing the season spirit by supporting our mission – to reduce cardiovascular disease by offering free heart screenings to student athletes, AED Awareness, and Austin Medical Explorer Post Program.

Titled “Heart scare put lives on new course” written by Madison Park with CNN, dated 12/1/09 – Matt Nader describes the night in 2006 that he “felt as if he had swallowed a grenade.”  Nader suffered from ventricular fibrillation on that balmy night during a high school football game. 

Ventricular fibrillation is really “a muscle twitch” that caused the young lineman to collapse.  His heart stopped pumping.  He was revived on the field, taken to the hospital where a miniature internal defibrillator was implanted into his chest.  That was the good news – he could control the “twitch”; however, his football career was over.  Nader and his family together had to chart a new course for him.  You see, he had already committed and received a football scholarship to University of Texas at Austin.  And that dream of playing in the NFL was gone.  The University of Texas honored his scholarship and he is cheering and helping them with their amazing season – but from the sidelines. 

Matt hopes to get into coaching and sports broadcasting  in the future.  He is also an advocate for legislation that requires AED’s to be available at every Texas school and he also volunteers with the American Heart Association.  Matt and his family have adjusted to their new course, Matt has resigned himself to the fact that there is more to life than football and we are all the better for that. 

To read the entire article, go to:http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/12/01/changes.heart.lifestyle/index.html

Note:  Matt Nader generously donates his time for Championship Hearts Foundation as well.  He is an amazing spokesperson for AED placement and training.

Cardiac Deaths Increase Among the Young

According to the CDC, sudden cardiac death (SCD), typically considered a danger mainly to the middle-aged, showed a 10% increase in persons between the ages of 15 and 34 over the last decade.  AND the SCD death rate increased by 30% in young women.  And alarmingly, death rates were also higher among young African-Americans than whites.  All this was reported at the American Heart Association’s 41st Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, in San Antonio, Texas. 

CDC Director Jeffrey Koplan, M.D., M.P.H. stated “we can’t fully explain this increase in SCD among young people, particulary women.  Perhaps among other things, poor recognition of heart events in younger patients and delayed application of cardiopulmonary resuscitation or defibrillation may also be contributing to this increase.”

Dr. Koplan goes on to say that “families with a history of early heart disease or sudden cardiac death should talk to their doctors about screening younger family members.”  Early identification of risk and prompt attention when signs of heart distress are recognized could help reduce SCD in peoples ages 15-34, according to the CDC.

To see a full exerpt of this information go to: About.com-US Government Info

According to James Davis, RN, MA, EMT-P with the Columbus Ohio Division of Fire and a flight RN for Medflight of Ohio, very seldom do EMT or first responders suspect heart issues in young athletes who are being resusitated.  They suspect that their friends are lying about drug/alcohol use possibilities because a young, healthy- appearing kid should not be having cardiac problems.  However, in the US some 200-300 young people die each year from cardiovascular events during physical exercise.  What causes a healthy child, teen or young adult to suffer fatal cardiac arrest?  Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, Commotio Cordis, Coronary Anomalies, Infectious Causes, Long QT Syndrome and Brugada, Bronchospasm.   Medications such as ephedrine can be the culprit, as well as cocaine. 

This article goes on to say how important it is that we educate our schools, coaches, parents, sports clubs and athletes themselves that sudden death can occur in even the healthiest apprearing athletes.  AED’s need to be at sporting events, CPR trained personnel, as well as access to advanced care.  Athletes need to be encouraged to report problems without fear of penalty from coaches and parents.  Filling out a detailed medical history is the first step, then, depending on any concerns, a 12-lead EKG should be used as a part of the physical exam.  To read more, click on the link below:

SUDDEN DEATH in the YOUNG

As President of Championship Hearts Foundation, you might wonder why Dr. George Rodgers is so dedicated to our mission: 

GEORGE’S STORY

I attended a small private high school in Houston.  We had 75 students in my graduating high school class.  Our school was known for its high academic standards not its athletic prowess.  We did, however, have one student in my senior class Frank McMurry who was an exceptional athlete.  Frank was ranked in the top 10 in pole vaulters in the state of Texas my senior year.  As you may know, pole vaulters are truly elite athletes combining sprinting with gymnastic abilities.  My classmates and I truly admired Frank’s athletic ability and considered him almost super human.  High school students generally consider themselves practically immortal; a super human would be the more so.  However, on one particular day during a track meet Frank was asked to participate in a relay race in the 440 relay.  As a terrific sprinter Frank agreed to run the second leg of the 440 yard relay race.  Just as he was handing off his baton to the third man, he collapsed on the track.  Frank was in cardiac arrest.  Frank’s father, a prominent surgeon in Houston, watched this event in terror; he immediately started performing CPR on Frank.  Futile attempts to resuscitate Frank went on for over an hour.  Frank was transported to the nearest emergency room and was pronounced dead on arrival.  His autopsy revealed that he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM).  Our entire senior class was in shock that our super human classmate could be so vulnerable and so mortal.  It was this event that inspired me to go into cardiology and later to develop the Championship Hearts Foundation devoted to athlete screening.  This is a preventable event.  Although HCM is difficult to diagnose with the usual physical examination it is very easy to detect with a limited echo.

Thank you, Dr. Rodgers, for all you do!

“The 2009 high school football season had barely begun when at least four players died on the field.  Even though all autopsy results were not available as of this writing, much of the early speculation in two of the deaths focused on the players’ hearts……” – Athletic Business.com (click here for entire article)

Below, students from West High School in Knoxville, Tenn., held a memorial for Jake Logue, a football player from Kingsport South High School who collapsed on West’s field during an Aug. 21 game and died of apparent cardiac arrest.

In the October 2009 issue of  Ladies Home Journal, Championship Hearts Foundation’s Board Member, Karen Webers’ daughter and son-in-law are featured!  This story chronicles the lives of two families and their compassion, sacrifice, and love for each other.  One friend could not have children because of a genetic heart disorder (HCM) and her friend could shoot them out like a salad shooter!  You have to read this incredible story!!

Dunaway X 3

We have three heart screening events for 2010 – all at Heart Hospital of Austin:

February 20, 2010 from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon

July 31, 2010 from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon

August 28, 2010 from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon

Thank you Heart Hospital of Austin for allowing us to host these events!

Heart Hospital of Austin