How does a 21 year old baseball player just die

[malaise]

I just saw this on the news and wonder about a fit young man just dying like this. I had two thoughts - one how hard it must be for his family and teammates, and two - do college baseball players mess with steriods?

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/15859553/detail.html
<snip>
A Georgia Tech baseball player was found dead Friday in his apartment.

Officials confirmed the death of Michael Hutts, 21, a pitcher on the team.

The team's game against Miami Friday night was postponed until Saturday afternoon. The number 10 Yellow Jackets were set to take on the top-ranked Hurricanes at 7 p.m.

[msongs]

1. genetic conditions that were unnoticed perhaps nt

[babylonsister]

2. 21 years old, king of the world, indestructible?

I obviously have no idea; lots of young people die from heart failure, too, but they're usually doing something strenuous or in extreme heat when it happens.

Very sad.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

13. Not really heart failure.

Young healthy people don't die of heart failure. If it's their heart they usually die of sudden cardiac arrest. Heart Failure usually called Congestive Heart Failure is often the result of Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) that damages the heart muscle and lessens it's ability to pump blood away from the heart.

David

[Reverend_Smitty]

3. I would imagine athletes at all levels mess around with steroids these days

but it is possible that this young man had an undiagnosed heart condition. It's rare but they do slip under the radar every now and then...especially if he just returned from practice and had a heart attack.

I don't want to speculate but it is a tragic event when any young person dies

[rocktivity]

4. Well, if he wasn't taking steroids or other drugs

it could have been a undetected heart problem. The eight-year old niece of a boss of mine dropped dead in class one day. Her five-year old brother was taken out of his kindergarten class and hospitalized for a complete physical examination. And a seven-year old American boy dropped dead while traveling in Italy with his parents. They donated his organs, allowing six children to make complete recoveries. The Italian government gave them the status of national heroes.

:headbang:
rocknation

[cloudbase]

5. It's unfortunate, but it's not a rare event.

Think Pete Maravich.

[MannyGoldstein]

6. Unexpected Sudden Cardiac Arrest

This is actually the most common cause of death in the US (500-1,000 people per day). It's not common in people under 65, but it definitely happens, and it happens more frequently to athletes, and a number of young athletes die from this every year - this was true way before steroids and similar crap were fashionable.

The root cause is an electrical problem in the heart that causes it to suddenly go haywire and quiver spasmodically rather than pumping correctly. It can happen because of a genetic problem, or even if the chest is hit hard at just the right moment during a heart beat. Most commonly it occurs in older people whose hearts have scar tissue that causes electrical conduction problems.

[KharmaTrain]

7. It Happened To A 14-Year Old

It was 1970...a kid in my homeroom...a "promising athlete" (if such a thing can be said at 14)...he was out on the baesball field doing wind sprints, collapsed and died of a heart attack. The family later found out that he had a small hole in his heart (which can be detected today, but not then) and the exertion did it.

Sadly, each week, if you look, you'll see stories about young athletes, either in college or who just got out, who pass on for a myriad of reasons. Most end up in car crashes, but a good number fall victim to things we'd expect of people far older...heart attack and stroke...a byproduct of them building up too much or putting strains on their body that aggrivates an existing condition.

It's sad to hear/read these stories, but being fit doesn't always mean being healthy.

[flvegan]

8. You ask two questions.

How does a 21 year old baseball player just die?

Could be a number of things.

Do college players mess with steroids?

Probably. But, do said steroids cause death? No. Not in most cases, no.

It's a nice leap, though.

[aikoaiko]

9. sadly, these things happen

undiagnosed heart problems.

[pansypoo53219]

10. seems to happen occasionally at that age.

a student at my art school died like that. some trigger in the heart.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

11. It happens more often than you would think.

Young athletes die from sudden cardiac arrest about once every 3 or 4 days nationwide according to some statistics. Often these are the results of an unknown heart condition such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or an underlying congenital heart defect. Many of these could be discovered if athletes had a 12 lead ECGs before they started competing.


Time had an article about it last year. Here's a link.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1618058,00.html


David

[SoCalDem]

12. Lots of very tall young men have Marfan's syndrome

or abnormalities in their hearts..

http://www.hughston.com/hha/a_16_4_4.htm

Sudden Death in Athletes

In 490 BC, Phidippides, a young Greek messenger, ran 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens delivering the news of the Greek victory over the Persians, and then he collapsed and died. This is probably the first recorded incident of sudden death of an athlete. The possibility that young, well-trained athletes at the high school, college, or professional level could die suddenly seems incomprehensible. It is a dramatic and tragic event that devastates families and the community. Sports, per se, are not a cause of enhanced mortality, but they can trigger sudden death in athletes with heart or blood vessel abnormalities by predisposing them to life-threatening heart irregularities. Sudden death most commonly occurs in football or basketball, accounting for two-thirds of sudden death of athletes in the US. In the rest of the world, soccer is the sport most commonly associated with sudden death. Sudden death occurs in 1 to 2 in 200,000 athletes annually and predominately strikes male athletes.

Some well-known athletes who have been victims of sudden death include marathon runner Jim Fixx (1984), Olympic volleyball star Flo Hyman (1986), NBA basketball star Hank Gathers (1990), Olympic figure skater Sergei Grinkov (1995), all pro NFL player Korey Stringer with the Minnesota Vikings (2001), and Darryl Kile, all-star pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (2002). In my hometown, Jed Bedford, captain of the Columbus State University basketball team and NCAA Division II leader in 2002 for 3-point shots, collapsed during practice and died one hour later on December 14, 2003.



Cardiac causes

The most common causes of sudden death are congenital abnormalities of the heart and blood vessels, or those that are present at birth. These abnormalities usually produce no symptoms and are disproportionately prevalent in African-American athletes. The most common cause of sudden death is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (Fig. 1), an excessive thickening of the heart muscle that can lead to an irregular heart rhythm called ventricular fibrillation. During ventricular fibrillation, numerous chaotic electrical discharges to the chambers of the heart (400+ per minute) result in no blood being pumped. The second most common cause of sudden death in athletes is abnormal coronary arteries (the blood vessels that supply oxygen to the heart muscle). Often, coronary arteries originate from an abnormal location or have an acute twisting angle that slows the blood flow. Other cardiac abnormalities that can cause sudden death are heart valve abnormalities, electrical conduction abnormalities of the heart, and rupture of the aorta (the large blood vessel that carries the blood from the heart to the body).

Another cause of sudden death among athletes is Marfan syndrome (Fig. 2). Marfan syndrome affects approximately 1 in 20,000 of the general population. People who have this medical condition are usually tall, slender, and loose-jointed. It is a hereditary disorder of the connective tissue, which is the basic substance that holds blood vessels, heart valves, and other structures together. Olympic volleyball star Flo Hyman had Marfan syndrome. On June 8, 2004, Florida State basketball player Ronalda Pierce died from an aorta rupture that was a result of this syndrome. Most sudden death in athletes over the age of 30 is due to a heart attack, or blockage of the coronary arteries. The otherwise normal arteries are occluded with lipid plaque. Athletes who are older than 30 are at increased risk for heart attack if they smoke, have high blood pressure, diabetes, elevated abnormal lipids, or a strong family history of heart disease. Darryl Kile, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, died suddenly at age 33. (His father died of a heart attack at age 44).

Noncardiac causes
A blow to the chest in the area of the heart, called commotio cordis, or cardiac concussion is the most common cause of sudden death in athletes who have no heart abnormality. This condition often occurs in children or adolescents with a nonpenetrating-and usually innocent appearing-blow to the middle of the chest, such as when a baseball, hockey puck, lacrosse ball, softball, or karate blow strikes the athlete's chest. Screening
High school and college athletes usually have a physical examination by a physician before participating in organized sports. Athletes with a family history of sudden death, Marfan syndrome, or heart disease at a young age, a history of exercise-induced syncope (fainting), a loud heart murmur, or previous heart surgery require further evaluation by a cardiologist. The preparticipation sports history and physical examination is often not sensitive enough to pick up rare heart conditions. Screening probably does identify 3% to 15% of athletes at risk.

[Laurier]

14. Sadly, it happens.

And it has happened numerous times in the recent past. Condolences to the families of the deceased. :(

[etherealtruth]

15. Sometimes ...

... truly horrible things happen. As so many have pointed out there may have been an underlying cardiac (or other) condition .... but, it still comes down to: bad things happen .... leaving shock, horror and grief in its wake. Tragic.

[ThomWV]

16. A 20-year-old Cousin of mine (Track Runner) dropped dead on his way to class one morning

A cousin of mine got himself a scholorship for running track. In his second year of school he was walking to class one morning, seemingly in perfect health, and dropped dead on the sidewalk from a stroke. How can anyone explain it?

[NNN0LHI]

17. I seen an 18 year old kid (same age I was then) drop dead of a heart attack on our first day...

...on the job the day we both hired in at Ford. On our way to the first coffee break he went down. The nurse that came out said he was dead before he hit the ground. And he had just passed the same physical as we all had to take the day before.

It happens.

Life really is precious.

Don

[malaise]

18. Thanks all

Must be shocking for his parents, relatives and friends.