ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- More than 70 cardiologists,
medics, administrative assistants and other volunteers are bracing for a
groundbreaking event in cardiac health history.
Johns Hopkins medical experts will screen more than 1,000 athletes this
Saturday for early signs of life-threatening heart defects. The event,
called Heart Hype, will be held at the 2008 track and field championship
games of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association. “We
just thought Johns Hopkins could do more by going out in the community and
raising awareness,” Theodore Abraham, M.D., a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins
who is spearheading the event, told Ivanhoe.
The heart defects doctors will be screening for are abnormalities like
overly enlarged, thickened hearts and hypertrophic cardiomyophathies, which
pose a serious risk to young adults who participate in athletic competitions
and sometimes cause heart rhythm disturbances or cardiac arrests that can
kill in a matter of minutes. By some estimates, this killer takes several
thousand young American lives every year.
Fatal heart defects like these are often masked by athletes’ healthy
appearance and peak physical condition, leading to numerous undiagnosed
cases. Experts estimate one in 500 Americans has undiagnosed hypertrophic
cardiomyopathy. Blacks are more vulnerable to this abnormality, suffering
two to three times the rate of sudden cardiac deaths than whites.
One of the most notable fatalities caused by a presumed heart defect was
Boston Celtics player Reggie Lewis, who died suddenly from cardiac arrest on
the court in 1993. His mother has endorsed Heart Hype and plans to speak at
a reception preceding the event.
Dr. Abraham has treated dozens of patients with heart defects. He hopes to
make this an annual event in Maryland, and eventually, across the country.
If this happens, Dr. Abraham said, “It would have huge impact on the way
that policy leaders, thought leaders and legislative leaders would view this
[problem].”
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Theodore Abraham, M.D.; Johns Hopkins news
release, May 2008
