Last month our CFC team was introduced to David Kuluva and Eric Schroeder of Athletic Testing Solutions, an organization that provides heart screenings, primarily for youth athletes. We were impressed and wanted to use this week’s blog space to help promote ATS and the good work they do. Below is an article written by Eric about ATS and the benefits of the heart screening process.
Dave and Eric, thanks for working to make sports safer for young people. Visit the ATS website.
I’m an Athlete, Why Would I Worry About My Heart?
You’re young. You’re an athlete. But no one is immune to heart issues. According to the March of Dimes, 40,000 births each year are subject to heart defects. In as many as 20% of the cases, family history plays a significant role. The remaining 80% are due to other causes that we may not typically consider. If you participate in a rigorous training regimen to strengthen your muscles, it also includes your heart, one muscle usually overlooked.
Making sure your heart is healthy and without defect is an integral part of athletic performance. Congenital heart defects, meaning you were born with the problem, include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), an excessive thickening of the heart muscle—which is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young athletes—abnormal locations of the coronary arteries—the second leading cause of SCD—and structural abnormalities.
Valve abnormalities allow blood to pass backward through the valve when the heart pumps causing the heart chambers to stretch and grow in size and also reduce blood output. Septal wall defects, found in 25% of the population, usually in the form of a hole, can allow oxygen rich blood to mix with un-oxygenated blood causing the brain, organs, and muscles not to receive the proper amount of oxygen to function correctly. To compensate, the heart has to work harder to get blood where it needs to go—to your brain, organs, and muscles.
Additionally, millions experience irregular heartbeats, called arrhythmias, at some point in their lives. Most of the time, they are harmless and happen more often in highly trained athletes. However, some abnormal heart rhythms can be serious. Extra, early, or “skipped” beats are the most common cause of irregular heart rhythms and difficult to diagnose without proper testing. These can start in the upper or lower chambers of the heart. Long QT Syndrome is a disorder of the electrical system that is inherited, brought on by taking certain medications, or caused by a combination of the two. People with LQTS are at risk for Ventricular Fibrillation, the most dangerous heart rhythm that causes sudden death. Heart Block is when electrical signals from the upper chambers of the heart (atria) cannot travel to the lower chambers (ventricles). The heart then beats too slowly, decreasing the amount of oxygen that gets to the body and brain.
Having one or more heart abnormalities can decrease stamina and reduce the ability to reach peak conditioning and compete at the highest level. More concerning is in some cases heart abnormalities can cause sudden death. Identifying young athletes with heart abnormalities is one of the main reasons for pre-participation sports screenings. However, many times certain heart conditions can be missed, even by the most seasoned medical professional. Often, heart symptoms are ignored at our peril. It may surprise you to know that chest pains are actually more common in athletes than they are in sedentary people. Luckily, in young athletes they usually are not a sign of heart trouble. The best way to determine if your heart is healthy, able to withstand rigorous physical activity, and achieve maximum performance is to have a thorough medical evaluation by your personal physician in addition to getting the ATSHeartCheck screening. The addition of the ATSHeartCheck provides you, and your doctor, a cardiac evaluation that includes an electrocardiogram (EKG) and an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound), all reviewed by pediatric cardiologists. Once heart problems are ruled out, you can be confident in giving it your all, pushing yourself to your very limit without putting your health on the line.
Eric Schroeder has spent the last 25 years in healthcare with an emphasis on cardiovascular testing, committing to use his knowledge to educate, create awareness, and screen for heart issues facing today’s youth. Through his work, Eric has become a leader in providing high quality screening of undiagnosed heart conditions in student athletes and young people. Follow him on Twitter at @EasyE520.