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Friends who pay attention to the news will find that the news of "sudden death due to exercise" often appears.
Every semester, college students collapse during a physical fitness test run; Every year, a young man who is "in good health" faints on the playing field; Every marathon is accompanied by an ambulance.
Sudden sports-induced death not only causes family tragedy, but also raises doubts about sports safety in society. So, what is sudden exercise-induced death? What are the main influencing factors?
Definition and characteristics of sudden exercise-induced death
Sudden exercise-induced death is an accidental death during or within 24 hours of exercise. There are several notable features of this phenomenon:
Triggering public panic: Sudden exercise-induced death is common in seemingly healthy people and can be sudden and unexpected. If the incident involves a public figure, the impact is wider and it is easy to trigger social panic.
No special population: Sudden sports-induced death can happen to anyone, whether it is a professional athlete or an ordinary person who usually does not exercise much, as long as he suddenly engages in high-intensity exercise, it can happen.
Apparent health: Most people with sudden sports death appear to be very healthy and muscular, and routine physical examinations do not reveal significant abnormalities, which makes the event even more sudden and unexpected.
The main cause of sudden exercise-induced death
The causes of sudden exercise-induced death are mainly divided into two categories: sudden cardiac death and non-sudden cardiac death, and sudden cardiac death accounts for the majority of sudden exercise-induced death, mainly including the following diseases:
Coronary artery disease: This is the most common cause and includes coronary artery disease and coronary artery malformations, leading to acute myocardial ischemia and infarction. Coronary heart disease is atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries, causing narrowing or blockage of the lumen, resulting in insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle.
Congenital heart disease: such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, mitral valve prolapse, aortic malformation, etc., these diseases are prone to heart problems during strenuous exercise. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is an abnormally thickened heart muscle that narrows the ventricular cavity and affects the heart's ability to pump blood.
Myocarditis: In viral myocarditis, in particular, the heart muscle is susceptible to damage during exercise. Myocarditis is an inflammatory response of the heart muscle to a viral infection, resulting in impaired heart function.
Most of the sudden cardiac motor death in people over 40 years old is caused by coronary heart disease; Sudden cardiac death in young athletes is mainly caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, valvular heart disease and myocardial conduction system diseases.
Valvular heart disease is a structural or functional abnormality of the heart valves that affects blood flow.
Sudden noncardiac death accounts for about 25% of all sudden deaths and includes the following:
Respiratory diseases: such as pulmonary embolism, bronchial asthma, etc., these diseases can easily lead to breathing difficulties and accidents during exercise. A pulmonary embolism is when a blood clot blocks an artery or its branches, resulting in a lack of oxygen to the lung tissue.
Nervous system diseases: such as cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, etc., these diseases are easily induced during strenuous exercise. Intracerebral hemorrhage is when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures and blood enters the brain tissue, causing damage to brain cells.
Electrolyte disorders: such as high blood potassium, low blood potassium, etc., these problems are easily aggravated during exercise, leading to serious consequences. Electrolyte imbalance is when the level of electrolytes (such as potassium, sodium, calcium, etc.) in the body is abnormal, affecting cell function.
In addition, heat stroke, psychological stress, stimulant use, and some genetic disorders may also induce sudden exercise-induced death. Heat stroke refers to the dysfunction of thermoregulation in a high-temperature environment, resulting in hyperthermia, which is life-threatening.
The influence of time rhythms
Studies have shown that the occurrence of exercise-induced sudden death is significantly related to the temporal rhythm. Specifically, the peak time of day is between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. During this time, the body's sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves are working alternately.
During the day, the sympathetic nerves are responsible for stimulating the body's functions, while at night the parasympathetic nerves are responsible for rest and recovery. In the wee hours of the morning, the two alternate, with the sympathetic nerves in their initial state of activation and the parasympathetic nerves exhausted.
In this state, strenuous exercise can easily lead to overload on the heart, induce arrhythmia and even sudden death.
The weekly rhythm should not be ignored, and Sunday and Monday are the days with a high incidence of sudden death due to exercise.
Sunday is usually a rest day, and many people will do some high-intensity exercise that they don't usually do, while Monday is a working day, which is a heavy physical and mental burden and easy to cause accidents.
Seasonal changes also affect the incidence of sudden death, especially in winter, when cold air can easily lead to coronary artery spasm and increase the risk of myocardial ischemia.
When exercising during these high-risk times, it is important to strengthen self-monitoring and protective measures.
Effects of psychological stress
Psychological stress is another important factor in triggering sudden death due to exercise, when a person is emotional, anxious or nervous, the body secretes large amounts of catecholamines, which are hormones that can stimulate the excitation of various body systems.
Excessive secretion of catecholamines causes myocardial electrical instability and coronary artery spasm, leading to ventricular fibrillation and myocardial ischemia.
This condition is especially common in sports competitions and high-intensity training, where athletes face tremendous psychological stress and mood swings, which can easily lead to heart problems.
Stress management is essential to prevent sudden sports-induced death, and athletes should learn to stay calm during competitions and training, reduce stress through relaxation training, psychological counseling, and other methods to ensure heart health.
Ordinary people should also pay attention to controlling their emotions and avoid over-excitement when doing high-intensity exercise, so as to reduce the burden on the heart.
The effects of strenuous exercise
Strenuous exercise is one of the direct causes of sudden exercise-induced death, and sudden high-intensity exercise can quickly increase the burden on the heart, resulting in a significant increase in the myocardium's demand for oxygen.
If the heart does not supply enough oxygen in a timely manner, it can cause myocardial ischemia, which can lead to cardiac arrest. Strenuous exercise also significantly increases catecholamines in the body, further increasing the burden on the heart.
For the average person, the risk is higher when suddenly engaging in strenuous exercise, especially without adequate warm-up and preparation.
People who have been lacking exercise for a long time suddenly undergo high-intensity training, and the heart and muscles are difficult to adapt, and they are prone to accidents.
In order to prevent sudden death-induced exercise, it is recommended to warm up fully before exercising, gradually increase the intensity of exercise, and avoid sudden high-intensity exercise.
At the same time, you should choose the appropriate exercise and intensity according to your own health condition, and do not blindly pursue difficult and high-intensity exercise.
Age and gender influence
Age and gender are also important influencing factors for sudden exercise-induced death, and statistics show that 30 to 50 years old is the most common age group for sudden exercise-induced death.
People at this stage are often under the dual pressure of career and family, and usually lack exercise, but occasionally participate in high-intensity exercise, which is at higher risk.
Middle-aged men, in particular, prefer to engage in strenuous exercise, such as football, basketball, etc., which increases the risk of sudden death.
The probability of sudden exercise-induced death in men is much higher than that in women, with a ratio of 7 to 1 males to females. This may be related to the preference of men to engage in high-intensity exercise, as well as the higher incidence of coronary heart disease.
A woman's hormone levels have a protective effect on the heart, but the incidence of heart disease increases with age, especially after menopause.
Middle-aged men and women entering menopause should pay special attention to self-protection during exercise and have regular physical examinations to understand their heart health.
The prevention of exercise-induced sudden death requires not only daily health management, but also self-protection during exercise.
Reasonable arrangement of exercise time, control of exercise intensity, maintenance of a good psychological state, and regular physical examination are all effective measures to prevent sudden exercise-induced death. I hope that everyone can exercise scientifically and enjoy a healthy life.
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