Preventing sudden death through sports medical examination

Obesity and sedentary lifestyles are currently reaching epidemic proportions in most parts of the world. To combat the resulting pathologies, it is widely accepted by the scientific community that physical exercise offers great benefits in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. It is for this reason that the medical community encourages the practice of physical exercise from childhood.

According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in the 2016 Yearbook of Sports Statistics, it is indicated that in 2015, 53.3% of the population over 14 years of age practiced some sport during the last year. Of these, the majority did so with great intensity at least once a week (86.3%). These data show us that sports practice is booming.

Exercising at a high intensity, in some cases in unfavorable conditions, added to the existence of an underlying disease, which may or may not be known and generally of cardiovascular origin, can trigger situations with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular complications or even sudden death.

How can we prevent complications arising from sport?

It is very important to identify patients who are in inadequate conditions to perform certain exercises and, in this way, prevent the undesirable or even fatal complications that can result.

The fundamental tool we have is the performance of regulated sports examinations prior to the practice of sports. The medical examination is usually performed by a specialist in Sports Medicine who, with a few questions and a basic physical examination, can detect various potentially dangerous situations.

From my point of view as a cardiologist, specialized in Sports Cardiology and member of the Medical Services of Málaga C.F., the complementary performance of an electrocardiogram considerably increases the ability to detect cardiac alterations. These alterations do not necessarily prevent the practice of sports, but they do prevent it from being adapted or individualized. The use of Doppler echocardiography is becoming more and more relevant, as it is used to rule out causes of sudden death, detecting more than 95% of cases. This test provides a lot of information, is painless and offers a quick diagnosis.

Read Now 👉  Advice and recommendations after a heart attack

After performing the examinations after many years of daily practice, in my experience it is rare to prevent an athlete from exercising, if anything in most cases, give some advice. It is more common for patients with a heart condition who have been advised against the practice of sport, the situation is clarified and may be suitable for sport and even competition. It is for this reason that I advise a sports examination in the hands of sports physicians and cardiologists with experience in sports cardiology.