Being fit is part of the issue strangely enough- while athletes and non athletes alike may have the genetic blueprint for developing an enlarged heart (HCM), athletes that regularly participate in intense sports may see a greater degree of ventricle thickening than non athletes with the condition. Once the heart tissue thickens, the heart is not able to pump blood fast enough when under strain, and may go into Ventricular Tachycardia and Ventricular Fibrillation.
Unfortunately, the standard EKG test that most pro athletes are given is not fool proof and will not necessarily pick up anything- the gold standard is the echocardiogram (heart ultrasound), which is fairly expensive and time consuming.
These potentially lethal conditions are quite different from the condition Jonas Gustavsson was dealing with a couple years ago- his condition was not an enlarged heart, but rather an atrial electrical problem, which is not considered life threatening- this issue can even be corrected through a procedure known as an ablation.
Athletes that survive ventricular arrhythmia scares typically need to be fitted with a pacemaker (in Muamba's case), go on medication, and possibly stop participating in intense sports.
Either way, I don't think there is necessarily an increase in the number of cases- there are simply more people playing intense sports and the medical field knows more details about the heart issues that athletes potentially face.
Last edited by Flabbibulin; 04-15-2012 at 01:16 PM.
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