Professional Football - A week to remember

It's been a bit of a grim week on the football pitch this week , with three young professional footballers dying and one recovering after experiencing severe heart failure during a match.
The 27-year-old 6 ' 1" Irish international left back Clive Clarke joined Leicester City on loan two weeks ago, and their Carling Cup tie against Nottingham Forest was abandoned at half time after Clarke collapsed - only to be revived by defibrillation after mouth to mouth resusciation failed. He is recovering in Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

Also on Tuesday , Seville's Spanish international Antonio Puerta, 22, died after losing consciousness on the pitch during a La Liga game against Getafe on Saturday. Puerta was able to walk off but suffered a relapse in the dressing room and required cardiac resuscitation.

Puerta became a hero to Sevilla fans after scoring a spectacular goal in extra time against Schalke that earned them their place in the UEFA Cup final for the first time in April 2006. The Spanish side went on to lift the cup and then retained it in 2007.

This is not the first time that the Andalucian team have had such a setback, in 1973, Pedro Berruelo Martin died on the pitch due to a cardiac arrest while defending the Sevilla colours in a Segunda Liga game against Pontevedra. His wife was pregnant at the time and his son Pedro is now a professional footb aller with Segunda B side Ceuta.

Last week, 16-year-old Walsall youth team player Anton Reid died after collapsing during a training session. It is not the first time such a youngster has died in this way in the , Daniel Yorath who was on Leeds United's boks, son of Terry and brother of Gabby Logan, died aged 15 in 1992 having a back-garden kick-around.

To make it a grimmer week Chaswe Nsofwa, 26 who played for Zambia in the 2002 African Cup of Nations, collapsed during a practice session on Wednesday in the Israeli city of Beersheva where he played for Hapoel Beersheva, which plays in Israel’s second division.He collapsed in the heat of over 100 degrees and and died minutes later in Soroka Hospital, Beersheba.
Nsofwa was with Hapoel Beersheva, which plays in Israel’s second division. Israel TV reported he collapsed during a practice game in the desert city. Rescue workers tried to restart his heart for several minutes on the field before taking him to Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.

Miklos Feher, 24, died playing for Benfica against Victoria Guimaraes in January 2004. The player collapsed after receiving a yellow card and died later that night from a confirmed cardiac arrest.

Marc Vivien-Foé, the former West Ham and Manchester City player, who collapsed while playing for Cameroon in Lyons against Colombia on 26th June 2003 was subsequently discovered to have an enlarged right ventricle which hadn't been picked in ECG screening.

David Longhurst, 25, who started playing for Nottingham Forest youth team, fatal suffered a heart attack playing for York City in 1990. York later named one of the stands at Bootham Crescent after him.

Robbie James, 40, capped 47 tmes for Wales, had a lengthy career playing for Swansea City, Stoke City and QPR r died on the pitch playing for Llanelli AFC, where he was player-manager, in 1998. James won 47 caps for Wales.

Risk factors for coronary heart disease in men 18 to 39


There are few studies relating to risk for coronary disease in young men those that have identify, as might be expected the normal indicators.

The Chicago Heart Association Detection Project, followed 11,016 men ages 18 to 39 years (average about 30 years) were followed for twenty years. During the followup period, 455 men died, 123 of them from coronary heart disease. The three major risk factors for heart disease deaths were elevated cholesterol level, elevated blood pressure, and cigarette smoking. Being overweight by itself was not a significant risk factor (but, when the increased weight results in increased cholesterol or blood pressure, it becomes a risk factor).

Screening is fairly standard, especially when footballers are expensive commodities / slaves - evidently such screening doesn't identify every risk.

Pic Puerta scores in extra time for Sevilla against Schalke