The National Federation of State High School Associations said last week that six high school student athletes died within the past month, four of them from heart issues and two from being hit, according to the Associated Press. Gainer’s death brings that number to seven.

I feel like high school football players dropping dead with heart issues isn't normal. But maybe I'm the weirdo. shrug-outta-hecks

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

The heart issues are probably undiagnosed hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. HCM is inherited and often starts symptoms during adolescence. And it’s often what causes random cardiac arrest during high school sports. It’s why many programs require echocardiograms as part of the screening physical exam.

A surprising number of people have it, about 1 in 500, and go their whole lives with no significant issue. But sports like football seem to be better at “finding” the problem with repeated brief bursts of exertion.