Dropping Dead

Pardon my confusion but since when do teenage athletes stand the risk of cardiovascular events?

I was just notified that Mark Morris high School, the public school which my son attends as a senior will be offering on site Cardiovascular testing for athletes.

Is anyone else feeling claustrophobic with the space being occupied by the growing elephant in the room?

Does anyone else have a dad who tells stories about being a kid and walking 2 miles to school uphill both ways and playing 4 hours of hockey in a routinely frostbitten state until dark when he was dragged home to eat minute steak, potatoes, wonder bread and margarine? Where the most common go to vegetable was a can of green beans in a suspension of 1500mg of sodium?

Has anyone else asked their parents if teenage kids…particularly boys were dropping dead of cardiovascular disease or myocarditis?

It bothers me that heart disease in teenagers, particularly boys must now be screened for.

Biologically, physiologically and neurologically, our teen boys are in their prime. They are at the top of their game for adaptation.

Between the age 7 and 21, the lung volume of our kids quadruples (1)

Before 2020, the risk of cardiovascular disease in children (as per the literature) was entirely as it related to body mass index and directly related to the risks associated with obesity (2).

Athletes, unless exposed to high levels of caffeine or to stimulant drugs like Adderall.

Before 5 years ago, the average american teenage athlete’s risk dropping dead on the soccer field had no radar and it wasn’t because “lack of awareness”.

Manjith Narayanan et al. Alveolarization Continues during Childhood and Adolescence.

American journal or respiratory and critical care. 2012 Jan 15; 185(2): 186–191

British Medical Journal. Cardiovascular disease risk in healthy children and its association with body mass index: systematic review and meta-analysis. September 2012; 345.