Exercise as it relates to Disease/The importance of screening in the athletic population to detect early risk of Sudden Cardiac Disease/Brief Background

Sudden Cardiac Death in the athletic population is a fairly new area of study. It looks into the sudden death of athletes during or directly after a competitive event. The reason it is an area of study is because athletes have tendencies to push their bodies to the limit and to train harder than any other population. This means they are more likely to trigger sudden cardiac death or cause hypertrophy of the heart respectively. Many athletes have cardiovascular conditions without knowing which is why places such as the United States and Italy have put in place protocols for prescreening. Common conditions include hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, congenital coronary artery anomaly, myocarditis, aortic rupture, and mitral valve prolapse. Exercise is not the cause of sudden death however is considered a trigger for those with any of the above conditions that are unknown.