Sudden death is one in which death occurs abruptly in healthy or sick people within the first 24 hours from the onset of symptoms, such as dizziness, for example, being characterized by sudden cardiac arrest accompanied by collapse of blood flow due to important changes in the heart, brain or veins.
Sudden death usually occurs due to unidentified cardiac problems previously, and most cases are due to malignant ventricular arrhythmia that may be present in certain rare diseases or syndromes.
Main causes of sudden death
The causes of sudden death may be related to changes in the heart, brain, lung or veins, as can happen in case of:
- Malignant arrhythmia;
- Massive heart attack;
- Ventricular fibrillation;
- Pulmonary embolism;
- Brain aneurysm;
- Embolic or hemorrhagic stroke;
- Epilepsy;
- Illicit drug use;
- During intense physical activity.
Sudden death in athletes is often caused by pre-existing cardiac changes but not yet diagnosed until the time of competition. This is a rare condition, which even in the high competition teams and with routine exams are not identified.
Learn 12 symptoms that can indicate heart problems
Because the cause of death can not always be established, bodies must always undergo autopsy to identify what may have triggered this type of death.
Can sudden death be avoided?
The best way to avoid sudden death is to identify the changes that can cause this event early. For this, tests should be performed regularly, whenever the person has any symptoms.
Young athletes should undergo an exercise test, electrocardiogram, and echocardiogram before starting the competition, but this is no guarantee that the athlete does not have a difficult diagnosis syndrome and that sudden death can not happen at any time, but fortunately this is a rare event.
Relatives of people deceased due to sudden death, and cases of atherosclerosis and hypertension, are more likely to suffer sudden death.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Sudden death can affect babies up to 1 year of age and occurs abruptly and unexpectedly, usually during sleep. Its causes are not always established even when performing autopsy of the body, but some factors that can lead to this unexpected loss are the fact that the baby sleeps on the belly, in the same bed as the parents, when the parents smoke or are very young. Learn all you can do to avoid sudden infant death.
