Black athletes are five times more likely to be at risk of cardiac arrest

A recent data review published and led by Emory University Atlanta sports cardiologist Jonathan Kim highlights a disturbing trend of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD) in Black athletes.

According to a knowledge review, Black athletes are five times more likelyy as white athletes experienced SCA and SCD.

According to , a study by Kim and his colleagues at the University Hospital of Laussane, Morristown Medical, Massachusetts General Hospital and other institutions also found significant racial differences in electrocardiographic (ECG) readings taken of competitive athletes.

According to Kim, it can be crucial to consider social determinants of health in any future research on ways to reduce risk for competitive athletes.

“To truly address these disparities, it is not enough to simply detect potential problems,” Kim said. “It is important to understand how to address the underlying social determinants of health that put athletes at greater risk,” Kim said in a press release.

Kim continued: “We have to look for potential underlying health conditions. We also need to take into account all the environmental stressors that young people have to deal with, as well as the place in which they grow up. “I doubt that even five to 10 years ago, many people were thinking about the social determinants of health and their impact on young athletes.”

According to the study, “Performance differences between black and white athletes also exist without explanation. The causes of sudden cardiac arrest and death vary by age, with genetic heart disease and unexplained cases (i.e. normal autopsy) predominating amongst younger athletes and coronary artery disease amongst master veterans.

in February drew attention to the story of Omar CarterNBA player who, at the age of 25, suffered a cardiac arrest on the court during a Pro-Am game in 2013.

According to Carter, he doesn’t fully remember what happened to him, but he knows his experiences were nothing like those dramatized in movies or TV shows. “I (vaguely) remember trying to catch myself, which was a little weird,” Carter, now 36, said.

“I’ve watched other cardiac arrest videos where they just go down; It was almost like I was conscious.” Carter continued: “(I was told) I brought this dramatic cinematic breath back to life.” Even after Carter was hospitalized at Carolina Medical Center and placed in a medically induced coma, he woke up still occupied with basketball.

“My first three questions were: ‘Did we pray?’ “What day is it?” and “Can I still play basketball?” – Carter recalls.

According to Merije T. Chukumerije, director of sports cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Group and team cardiologist for the LA Galaxy and Los Angeles Clippers: “It definitely has something to do with social determinants of health, (and) psychosocial stressors, in including racism and discrimination.”

Jonathan Drezner, M.D. and director of the UW Center for Sports Cardiology, agrees with Chukumerije, saying, “Our research has shown that black athletes with SCA come from neighborhoods with greater socioeconomic deprivation than white athletes with SCA, however the mechanisms that lead to higher risk, needs to be clarified,” said Drezner, who’s a specialist in corresponding creator on one other study of sudden cardiac arrest amongst Black athletes published in 2020.

Drezner concluded: “These may include greater access to health care, higher quality screening, greater attention to cardiovascular symptoms or a family history of heart disease – all of which could lead to early detection of conditions at risk of SCA.”