The goalkeeping legend Iker Casillas has survived the Training suffered a heart attack. At the age of 37, he belongs to the group of young, fit infarction patients. A sports medicine physician explains why these people have a high heart risk.

37 years old, professional athletes, and therefore fit as a fiddle – the heart attack of goalkeeper Iker Casillas during the Training of FC Porto has not shocked only by his colleagues on the court. Also the many Fans of the internationally popular footballer reacted affected by the news.

A bit queasy, it was probably some of the same age recreational athletes: How can it be that the heart of a Top athlete makes in a relatively young age?

The typical young myocardial infarction patient is a smoker and is overweight

Hans-Georg Predel, sports medicine at the German sport University in Cologne, sees the case of Iker Casillas as an example for many recreational and competitive athletes, your heart risk are not even aware of. “There is, for example, anomalies of the coronary arteries, which only show up with age.”

With high-performance athletes, especially in professional football, were part of medical Checks for the Standard, but “the focus is then in the orthopedic field.” Extensive cardiological investigations were in Europe still not universally mandatory. spot on news After myocardial infarction: goalkeeping legend Casillas is out of danger

Overexertion during Training is causing a heart attack

Overexertion as the sole cause for a heart attack during the Training of sports physicians, however, are impossible: “A healthy heart cannot be a heart attack trained.”

A heart attack in the U50 is-Year-old more often than expected. A study at the Bremen heart centre had already been shown in 2015, that each of the 15. Infarction patient is younger than 45 years. 80 percent of those Affected are male. However, from the Surveyed, 85 percent of smokers.

Obesity and a familial clustering of cardiovascular disease factors were more important risk. In young patients, the infarction is not often particularly strong, a higher proportion than in the Older survived the year after the event.

Young, athletic, heart attack, and often the risk is innate

All of this is not the case with Iker Casillas.

The former Spanish national goalkeeper and longtime captain of Real Madrid has recovered from the horrors, meanwhile, quite well, how his Smile on the photo in the hospital bed. But after he was at the training ground the day before evil, and he has been associated with heart problems in the clinic, had to act the Doctors quickly. Cardiologist found a blocked cardiac vessel. By the catheter they put in a Stent, to wide and open. This intervention was to all appearances well.

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A plausible explanation for the heart attack of the slender, non-athletic smoker Casillas could be a congenital metabolic disorder. In the case of the so-called hypercholesterolemia, the cholesterol are excessive values permanently, regardless of diet or other lifestyle factors. A result of interference narrowing deposits in the blood vessels. Such clogged can cause heart vessels, coronary a heart attack. There’s also a 20-Year-old can suffer a heart attack.

Predel says: “In the case of this disorder, it may be that the Deposit is formed only at a single site of the coronary vessels. This would also explain, that in the case of Casillas, only a single Stent was used.“ As it had reported in Portuguese media.

Goalkeeper with a Stent? Questionable whether this is

If and when the exception-to return Athlete back to the soccer field and in the goal, remains to be seen. In this end of the season he will not play anyway. The Cologne-based sports medicine Predel holds, however, full-performance sports with a Stent for not very likely or recommended.

The situation is different for Amateur athletes, because it is also a preloaded heart does movement well.

In order to a shock event as in the case of the Spanish goalkeeping legend Casillas, advises Predel learning all ambitious leisure sport: “From 35 on, everyone should have his cardiovascular System once thoroughly examine. Then yet undiscovered risk factors come to light, before you make yourself unpleasant.“