Study Suggests Sudden Death Happens Off the Field

This is an interesting conclusion. The best part is that they are spending time researching this issue.  Furthermore, if SCA occurs more frequently off the field, then it’s happening a lot, because it is also the #1 cause of death of student athletes.

TORONTO – The stories are always shocking: A young, often super fit teenager or young adult drops like a stone during an athletic event, dead before they hit the ground.

The obvious incongruity of sudden cardiac death in an athlete perplexes the public and alarms parents of young sportsmen and sportswomen, who may see their own children in the lifeless bodies of the stricken.

A new Canadian study may relieve some of those concerns. It finds that the majority of sudden cardiac death cases don’t happen during exercise, at least in young adults.

In fact, the highly visible deaths of athletes — or the deaths averted because of rapid resuscitation, as in the cases of former NHL player Brett MacLean or Premier League footballer Fabrice Muamba earlier this year — are the exceptions. Most sudden cardiac deaths happen off the field of play, among people who are not exerting themselves.

Read more: