Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Badtieva revealed the causes of the sudden death of athletes at competitions

15% of Olympians have abnormalities in the cardiovascular system

On March 30, Russian scientists discussed the causes of the sudden death of athletes at a meeting of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Life Sciences”. An important topic – where is the line between the benefits and negative consequences of sports loads – was raised by Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor of the Department of Restorative Medicine, Rehabilitation and Balneology of the First Moscow State Medical University named after I.M. Sechenov Victoria Badtieva.

In general, sports, including professional ones, are certainly useful. This, in particular, was proved by a study conducted not so long ago by Russian scientists together with colleagues from Azerbaijan. According to Badtiyeva, a group of sambo wrestlers who completed their sports career 5-10 years ago was examined. It turned out that the indicators of the state of their cardiovascular system were much better than those who did not play sports. However, experts continue to investigate the cause of the negative consequences of increased training – sudden death. Most often, it overtakes male athletes participating in competitions.

– In the world there are two main scientific schools in the field of sports cardiology that study this phenomenon – Italian and American, – says Badtieva – According to the Italian, arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (a genetic pathology characterized by structural changes in the right ventricle and the development of arrhythmia) leads to sudden death – Auth. ), according to the American – hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (damage to the heart muscle with an increase in the ventricles (often the left) – Auth.).

According to the observations of Russian doctors, a combination of various factors can lead to sudden death, but in almost all cases, the presence of one or another cardiovascular pathology has been recorded. According to Badtiyeva, up to 35 years of age, congenital heart defects and a number of other congenital anomalies can be predisposing factors to sudden death while playing sports, after 35 years – pathology of the coronary arteries.

The only way out that will allow, if not 100 percent to avoid sudden death on the sports field, then significantly reduce the number of tragic cases, is the regular examination of athletes.

Victoria Badtieva gave an example of an interesting assessment of the health status of top-class athletes who participated in the Olympic Games from 2004 to 2014. It turned out that about 15% of them have abnormalities in the cardiovascular system, and 3.9% have such changes that, under a number of conditions, can lead to sudden death.

– The percentage of non-admission to training and competitions is low, – states the doctor. – Despite the fact that in general we identify 6% of athletes with abnormalities in the cardiovascular system, we remove only 0.12 from training. All the rest, after restoration and correction, we correct and return to service.

However, no screening, according to the MD, can 100 percent protect against sudden deaths. As an additional measure to save the lives of athletes, every stadium should ideally be equipped with automatic defibrillators.

Victoria Badtieva also gave advice to non-professional athletes, in particular to those who are engaged in active longevity groups. In particular, before increasing the intensity of classes, she advised to determine the tolerance of the cardiovascular system to the load. The most useful sports for amateurs, she called Scandinavian, ski walking, in the absence of contraindications – running.