Chicago Bears Player Dies Aged 26...How does that happen ?  

hi 1hopefulman that is very odd to me too. I would hope that that all the players were under continuous medical attention. I think
perhaps the coaches push them a bit too much without thinking of the dire consequences. they surely would have to know the player had an enlarged heart.

ALot can be over looked if they dont give them and Echogram.
thats how they saw that I had what they called a think heart and when I had heart attack and they put the stents in they cut off part of my heart and cartarizede it.

In the last year or so there have been a number of otherwise healthy seeming young athletes in their teens, twenties and thirties die unexpectedly of heart complications. The testing and exams are constantly under review, but still it seems that sometimes these illnesses get missed.

he probably wasn't showing any signs of heart problems. theres been several stories of young people playing sports that collapse with it usually being heart problems which are not known. with so much stuff that goes on in the body things can go unnoticed.

Well, he's not the first and he's definitely not the youngest of all.. ABout 1-2 years ago, a spanish soccer player also died on the field, following a cardic arrest, and he was only 22 then!!

Cardic arrest can happen to anybody, and there are no symptoms to it.. Every athlete is supposed to be fit and healthy, and yet they can die?? So what does it mean?? NEver take for granted that, our health is always good, for there might be some underlying problems, which cant be detected, no matter how healthy we might seem to be..

You're probably not a figure skating fan, but I asked the same question when Olympic gold medalist Sergei Grinkov died of heart failure. But apparently there are things that the doctors don't look for in athletes. Hopefully tragic deaths of this nature will teach them more so that they do have a better idea what to look for.

Hello my friend 1hopefulman Ji,

I bring out some startling facts on your discussion and for more you may log on :-

http://www.cbc.ca/health/...

"Last Updated: Tuesday, November 6, 2007 | 4:03 PM ET
The Associated Press
Having an enlarged heart is the biggest cause of sudden death among young athletes, and some experts say more and better screening is needed.

Too often, heart problems that can cause an irregular heartbeat and sudden death are missed because there isn't enough uniform screening of athletes, said Dr. Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

U.S. marathoner Ryan Shay died suddenly Saturday while competing in New York in the men's marathon Olympic trials. He had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart in his early teens.
(CBC) Mosca spoke from an American Heart Association meeting in Florida where cardiologists have been talking about the weekend death of Ryan Shay. The 28-year-old runner was competing in New York in the men's marathon Olympic trials when he died suddenly on Saturday.

According to his father, Shay had an enlarged heart that was first diagnosed when he was 14. But whether that contributed to his death isn't known. Autopsy results are expected later.

"It's hard on all of us when something like this happens to a person who is doing all the right things as far as we can tell," said Mosca, a marathon runner herself. "We have to use this as an example to try to prevent future problems."

About 125 athletes under 35 involved in organized sports die suddenly in the United States each year, said Dr. Barry Maron of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. The institute tracks these types of deaths in a registry.

An analysis of 387 cases from the registry showed the ...."

May God bless You and have a great time.