Egypt, S.Arabia step up trade ties through coordination council talks    Egypt reviews progress on $200m World Bank-funded waste management hub    Egypt urges Israel to accept Gaza deal amid intensifying fighting    SCZONE showcases investment opportunities to eight Japanese companies    Egypt, ADIB explore strategic partnership in digital healthcare, investment    SCZONE, Tokyo Metropolitan Government sign MoU on green hydrogen cooperation    Egypt welcomes international efforts for peace in Ukraine    Al-Sisi, Macron reaffirm strategic partnership, coordinate on Gaza crisis    Contact Reports Strong 1H-2025 on Financing, Insurance Gains    Egypt, India's BDR Group in talks to establish biologics, cancer drug facility    AUC graduates first cohort of film industry business certificate    Egyptian pound down vs. US dollar at Monday's close – CBE    Egypt's FM, Palestinian PM visit Rafah crossing to review Gaza aid    Egypt prepares unified stance ahead of COP30 in Brazil    Egypt recovers collection of ancient artefacts from Netherlands    Egypt harvests 315,000 cubic metres of rainwater in Sinai as part of flash flood protection measures    Egypt, Namibia explore closer pharmaceutical cooperation    Fitch Ratings: ASEAN Islamic finance set to surpass $1t by 2026-end    Renowned Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim dies at 88    Egyptian, Ugandan Presidents open business forum to boost trade    Al-Sisi says any party thinking Egypt will neglect water rights is 'completely mistaken'    Egypt's Sisi warns against unilateral Nile measures, reaffirms Egypt's water security stance    Egypt's Sisi, Uganda's Museveni discuss boosting ties    Egypt, Huawei explore healthcare digital transformation cooperation    Egypt's Sisi, Sudan's Idris discuss strategic ties, stability    Egypt to inaugurate Grand Egyptian Museum on 1 November    Greco-Roman rock-cut tombs unearthed in Egypt's Aswan    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



SPORTS TALK: Death list lengthens
Published in Daily News Egypt on 08 - 09 - 2007

After the news rocked the country when it happened, it hardly got a mention anywhere that this week marked the first anniversary of the death of Egyptian international footballer Mohamed Abdel-Wahab at the age of 23, from a sudden heart attack while training.
What was mentioned, though, were several other players who have met the same fate as that of Abdel-Wahab in just the past two weeks.
Unbelievably, four players -- Antonio Puerta of Seville, 22, Zambian Chaswe Nsofwa of Hapoel Beersheba in Israel, 27, Walsall youth team player Anton Reid, 16, and most recently Jairo Andres Nazareno, 21, from Ecuador -- have died of heart failure, and a fourth, Leicester City s Clive Clark, also collapsed during a game but is now recovering.
I didn t know any of these players; I d never even heard of them. Yet you can t help being saddened by their deaths. You can t help wondering if any or all of their deaths could have been prevented; and they died playing a game that they and millions others love. Although I don t know if that last part makes it better or worse.
The question most people are asking is how this can happen to professional athletes, apparently at the peak of fitness. We do know that because they have been exercising vigorously, many athletes who collapse during competition do not have enough oxygen in their bodies to allow the heart to start pumping again. Exercise produces adrenalin, which can worsen the condition and result in a sudden heart attack.
Many fatal heart attacks are caused by an irregular heartbeat. Adrenaline produced during exercise may overstimulate the heart so that it essentially short-circuits. When that happens, there may only be seconds or minutes to save an athlete s life.
FIFA, world soccer s governing body, deemed the risk of irregular heartbeats to be so great that before last year s World Cup in Germany, its medical committee demanded that all players undergo heart scans. Following the recent deaths, FIFA said it was considering expanding health checks.
Cardiac problems like an abnormal heartbeat are exacerbated by rigorous exercise in a way that can be fatal in athletes, and regular testing for the problem could save lives. Italy is the only country that mandates heart screening of all its professional athletes.
Since 1981, Italian authorities have run heart checks on all competing athletes. The incidence of sudden, fatal heart attacks has dropped from four cases per 100,000 to 0.4 cases per 100,000.
Concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of the scan, which relies largely on echocardiograms, a test that shows if the heart is pumping normally. As a screening test, it s imperfect, since although it can pick up many of the things that cause sudden death, it cannot detect all of them.
Not all athletes with suspicious tests will collapse on the field. Athletes genetically predisposed to have an irregular heartbeat might not even be aware of their condition until it s too late.
Athletes may have a silent but dangerous heart disease that s not manifest. Coaches should pay more attention to their players symptoms. If an athlete is complaining about chest pains or shortness of breath, those are warning signs that should not be ignored.
It s also time we considered whether we are simply asking too much of the players. Is it time to make a drastic cut in the number of games we ask our top players to play? The game is played at a torrid pace these days and the number of matches top-level players are involved in every season has reached a critical point.
We can name a full squad of young, supposedly healthy players from Africa to South America to Asia to Europe who have died suddenly. They lost much more than just a game.


Clic here to read the story from its source.