Christian Eriksen fell unconscious in the Denmark-Finland match due to cardiac arrest. The heart rate was restored using a defibrillator. The 29-year-old footballer was hospitalized, after a few days he was implanted with a cardioverter-defibrillator. Why is a young, athletic man also at risk of a heart attack, says cardiologist Prof. Marcin Grabowski.
- The Danish footballer Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in a match against Finland
- How it’s possible? – many fans watching the match wondered. After all, Eriksen is young, healthy and under medical supervision
- Every person, even a young person, is at risk of heart ischemia and a heart attack – says Prof. Marcin Grabowski
- At some point, extreme sport begins to be a heavy burden on health, and athletes have a tendency to heart rhythm disturbances, explains the cardiologist
- You can find more such stories on the Onet homepage.
Adrian Dąbek, Medonet: It seems that a young, athletic, regularly examined football player cannot have a heart attack.
Prof. Marcin Grabowski: If we were talking about athletes in general, and the thing we fear the most, it is cardiac arrest during physical activity. And it doesn’t usually result from a heart attack. Here we were dealing with cardiac arrest. Athletes usually have an undiagnosed heart defect – this could be either a valvular defect or a defect related to an abnormal structure of the heart called cardiomyopathy.
Such persons are at risk of developing a life-threatening arrhythmia during exercise. These people, who are not aware of heart disease, suddenly have the first and sometimes unfortunately last symptoms of heart disease in the form of cardiac arrest. Even though this does not often happen if we look at a group of athletes, it is the most common episode.
On the other hand, there is always a risk of heart ischemia or a heart attack in every person, even young people. This does not always have to be due to classic risk factors such as diabetes, smoking or lipid disorders. Perhaps there is enough plaque rupture, endothelial dysfunction or dissection of the coronary artery, e.g. in the stress mechanism or the mechanism of effort. Such a sudden episode could lead to the cardiac arrest we have experienced.
- Eriksen had a heart attack as a 29-year-old. What do Polish 30-year-olds suffer from? [WE CHECK]
The most important thing in the proceedings was to save this competitor from cardiac arrest, to restore the heart rate.
A professional athlete is less exposed to risk factors such as smoking or a poor diet, but on the other hand, there are factors related to the specificity of the profession.
We know that physical activity is healthy and reduces cardiovascular risk. But at some point extreme sport becomes a heavy strain on your health. We know that athletes tend to have heart rhythm disturbances. There is such a thing as an athlete’s heart that can be an abnormal hypertrophy of the heart muscle in some way. The second element is that the athlete may have a predisposition – be it genetic or external – to some underlying disease not previously recognized.
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In a class athlete like Eriksen, we can assume that he has been thoroughly tested before. But there are certain illnesses that go undiagnosed and can cause a problem when an athlete is in good health during exercise. There is also a third point. The fact that someone does not have a risk factor, drives well, does not smoke, has good cholesterol, has a sense of health, does not exclude 100% that he will not have heart disease or a heart attack. We have cases of patients who suffer from a heart attack despite having been well-behaved in the past. Even in the case of potentially healthy people, a heart attack cannot be ruled out.
- Eriksen was not the only one. Why do young, athletic footballers suffer a heart attack?
Regular examinations are carried out among football players for abnormalities in the work of the heart. But it still happens that not everything is detected. What else can be done to increase the chances of catching a risk factor?
In sports cardiology, it is very important to interview and talk with the patient about the presence of heart diseases in the family, about symptoms that may be underestimated and may indicate premises that there is a background. And basic diagnostics, such as ECG or heart echo. They are usually sufficient, but it is never possible to 100 percent. rule out risks. Extreme exertion can lead to cardiac arrest.
That’s a bit of theory at the end. What exactly happened to Eriksen?
I can say what I have seen. The rest are media reports. This is a competitor who was in the middle of an effort and, as I suspect, had no symptoms before. Suddenly he fell and cardiac arrest occurred. The team that rescued him started resuscitation, i.e. resuscitated him. He had defibrillation followed by restoration of heart rate. He was saved from sudden death.
- Christian Eriksen will have a cardioverter defibrillator implanted. What is this device?
So what is the difference between a heart attack and cardiac arrest?
A heart attack is ischemia of the heart caused by the closure of a coronary artery. And during a heart attack, the patient may feel unwell, may have ischemia, may experience shortness of breath, and this heart attack may damage the heart. In some patients, the heart attack is so critical that it causes cardiac arrest, which is a symptom of an abnormal heart rhythm, ventricular fibrillation. And then, if he is not helped, it ends in death.
And when we talk about a heart attack, we mean a heart attack that can lead to cardiac arrest, which is a broader concept?
This is.
And what else could be the causes of cardiac arrest?
The undiagnosed heart and valve defects I mentioned.
Heart check-ups should be performed once a year, especially if there have been cases of cardiac diseases in the family. Get your Heart Check – Blood Tests package today to check that your heart is functioning properly.
Take care of your circulatory system by drinking Hemp Seed Coffee, which reduces the risk of heart attacks and blood clots.
Also read:
- Symptoms of heart problems that we tend to downplay
- Instead of going to the hospital, women wait for it to pass
- The seven worst heart conditions in adults