Sudden death during exercise is no joke. Have preventive measures been put in place?

People are no longer unfamiliar with the term sudden death. In recent years, many people have lost their lives due to sudden death. Maybe we can only remember the names of some well-known people, they may be executives or white-collar workers, and people feel sorry for them because they are too young. But it can be said that most of their sudden deaths are due to overwork. Now, a kind of sudden death during exercise is also threatening the lives of many people. So what is sudden death during exercise? How can we prevent it?

Sudden death during exercise refers to non-traumatic death within 6 hours after performing a certain exercise. Scholars now define sudden death during exercise as death within 1 hour after exercise, so sudden death during exercise is also called immediate death. That is to say, death comes very quickly, there may be no signs at all, and it is impossible to prepare for it.

Looking back at history, the first person to die suddenly during exercise was a young soldier named Pheidippides. At that time, the Greek army fought a fierce battle with the invading Persian army in Marathon, a strong military town near Athens, which determined the fate of Greece. After the victory of the Greek army, this soldier was ordered to go back and report the good news of victory. He ran desperately all the way, and when he reached the destination, he just shouted "We won" and then fell to the ground and died. In order to commemorate him, the international sport of marathon was created.

In some subsequent marathon competitions, there have been many cases of sudden death during exercise. There are many such cases in other countries, and I believe everyone still remembers the example that happened in my country. In 2004, two amateur college marathon runners participated in the Beijing International Marathon and died suddenly. People then began to feel very confused. These people who love sports should be relatively healthier, so how could they suddenly die after exercise?

In fact, experts tell us that although sudden death during exercise seems to be caused by exercise, in fact, the cause is not just exercise. Moreover, according to investigations, most of these sudden deaths are sudden cardiac death, which means that there may be some health risks in their hearts. It is just because exercise increases the load on the heart, and intense and prolonged exercise leads to myocardial ischemia and hypoxia, leading to death. Of course, these young athletes definitely did not die of sudden cardiac death caused by atherosclerosis. According to research, most of these people who died suddenly had some congenital problems. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, congenital coronary artery malformations, and idiopathic left ventricular hypertrophy accounted for a large proportion. Of course, a few were caused by aortic rupture.

These diseases already exist, but they do not manifest themselves in the absence of strenuous exercise. However, exercise creates new pressure on the heart, leading to increased load, and problems begin to occur in these diseased areas. When the heart can no longer bear it, death will occur.

Therefore, exercise is also a double-edged sword. If used properly, it can strengthen the body, but if used improperly, it may lead to premature death. Professional athletes must undergo a comprehensive physical examination, and it is not recommended for ordinary people to engage in such strenuous exercise.