Anuradha Varanasi
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Written By: Anuradha Varanasi | Published : April 13, 2016 8:07 PM IST
Cricket fans were left shock to know that England cricketer James Taylor was forced to retire at the young age of 26 due to a potentially fatal heart condition. Taylor is one of the most popular players from the England team, however, due to his condition which is known as arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia (ARVD) or cardiomyopathy, doctors say he has no other option left but to retire with immediate effect. Nilesh Gautam, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, Head of Department of Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation at the Asian Heart Institute says, We have seen cases where young athletes have succumbed to ARVD because it went undiagnosed. When a post mortem was conducted, ARVD was stated as the cause of death.
Patients living with this heart condition need to avoid any form of physical exertion or even excitement that can cause an increase in heart rate as that could prove to be fatal for them. In fact, Taylor is not the first sportsman who had to retire due to ARVD. In 2012, former football player Fabrice Muamba was also diagnosed with ARVD.
So, what is ARVD?
This is a genetic heart condition where cardiac muscles are replaced with fatty and fibrous tissue in the right side of the heart and with time may also affect the left ventricle. Due to this, the walls of the heart become thin which leads to abnormal heart rhythms and the heart s ability to pump blood is weakened. It most commonly afflicts young adults and the prevalence of the disease is estimated to be 1 in 1000. Patients normally experience symptoms like sudden bouts of dizziness or complete blackouts, breathlessness and swelling in the legs or abdomen. These are the 8 common heart disease symptoms and warning signs. If the abnormal heart rhythms continue it could eventually lead to almost no oxygen supply to the brain which could cause sudden death, says Dr Gautam.
This heart condition is mainly treated with a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) that gives an electric shock to normalize the heartbeats incase an abnormal heart rhythm is detected, adds Dr Gautam. However, there is no cure for ARVD or cardiomyopathy and it can only be controlled by medicines or in some cases, surgery. Experts say that once a sportsperson is diagnosed with this heart condition, there is absolutely no scope of resuming with their physically active lifestyle.
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