Athletic? Know Your Heart Health

While a medical exam is always recommended for adults about to embark on an exercise program, more and more student athletes are getting examined before they go out on the field.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requires an extensive preparticipation physical exam for all intercollegiate sports. Many high schools require some form of cardiovascular examination, as outlined by the American Heart Association.

Even if your son or daughter doesn't plan to compete but is about to start an intense exercise program, for school or just for recreation, he or she should see a doctor first.

Looking for heart problems

The doctor examining the young athlete will be looking for many potential problems, but especially heart disease. Young people have died in practice and on playing fields because they didn't know they had heart problems leading to dysrhythmia (abnormal beating of the heart).

In most cases, no one knew they had structural abnormalities of the heart's interior wall (septum). The symptoms usually show up only during exercise.

Heart disease, specifically due to atherosclerosis, is still the number one killer in adults. Sudden death in young athletes is a rare but very tragic event. Even though the incidence is about one in 200,000, methods are improving for detecting teenagers and young adults at risk.

Clarifying your personal medical history or family history may provide important clues that will help your doctor diagnose any heart problems. Be prepared to answer questions like these:

• Do you have asthma?

• Do you wheeze when you exercise?

• Do you ever become suddenly out of breath while exercising? Have you had to stop exercising other than for asthma or allergies?

• Do you get chest pain or chest tightness that tends to go away when you stop exercising?

• Were you ever told you had a heart murmur? If so, when was it found?

• Were you ever told that you had an abnormal EKG (electrocardiogram) or echocardiogram?

• Has any close relative died of a heart-related problem before age 50?

• Do you or does anyone in your family faint or feel like they are going to pass out when exercising?

• Did any close relatives have to stop participating in sports because of a medical problem?

• Have you or has anyone in your family been diagnosed with the following conditions?
  • Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
  • Dilated cardiomyopathy
  • Marfan's syndrome
  • Long QT syndrome
  • Dysrhythmias
  • Heart murmur

External Sources O'Connor F. G., Kugler J.P., Oriscello R. G.; American Family Physician. Sudden death in young athletes: screening for the needle in a haystack. June, 1998. Cardiac Arrhythmias Research and Education Foundation Journal of Athletic Training. A Review of Sudden Cardiac Death in Young Athletes and Strategies for Preparticipation Cardiovascular Screening by the National Athletic Trainers' Association, Inc. J Athl Train. 2001 June; 36 (2): 197-204

This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.

Search