(obviously copy and pasted through a translator)
Mysterious heart disease in football
An unusually large number of professional and amateur football players have recently collapsed.
Berlin - Professional player Sergio Agüero of FC Barcelona will be out for at least three months. The 33-year-old had been substituted in the match against Deportivo Alavés with breathing problems. He had grabbed his chest and was taken to a hospital. Because of heart problems, he is now treated by the cardiologist. At the European Championships, the player Christian Eriksen collapsed in front of running cameras. Diagnosis: cardiac arrest. Eriksen survived. The two professionals are just two examples of many footballers who have to struggle with sometimes life-threatening heart problems.
DFB doctor Tim Meyer said after the collapse of Eriksen: "Even the best screening examination is not perfect, so such things can still happen. That's why there is the second line of prevention and that is the presence of emergency doctors on the sidelines."
However, this system cannot avoid all life-threatening or even fatal cases. Again and again there are emergency situations in recent weeks and months:
The German Heart Foundation states: "Depending on the study, there are between 0.7 and 3.0 deaths per 100,000 sports enthusiasts per year." According to the experts, men are affected more often than women: "According to data from the German Register of Sudden Cardiac Death Register (SCD Germany), 96% of the affected athletes are men," according to the foundation. As for the causes, it is said that sudden cardiac death during sports has "different triggers".
Causes differ depending on the age of those affected
The causes differ depending on the age of those affected. "In people under the age of 35, diseases of the heart muscle, heart valves, aorta and coronary arteries are among the possible triggers. Changes in the genetic material can, for example, lead to thickening of the muscles of the left ventricle (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). Diseases especially of the right ventricle (arrhythmogenic (right ventricular) cardiomyopathy) can also be the cause of sudden cardiac death," according to the Heart Foundation.
In people over 35, on the other hand, "coronary heart disease" is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death, at about 80 percent. Coronary arteries narrow further and further due to deposits (plaques) of cholesterol, connective tissue and lime. If these plaques rupture, blood clots sometimes form, and the blood vessel is completely closed." It comes to a heart attack, which "can be associated with life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias".
Regardless of age, inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis) is another risk factor. "It can already occur in the course of banal virus infections, even without causing discomfort," says the German Heart Foundation. "However, these inflammatory changes can lead to life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias."