sudden heart failure
07/14/2023
Sudden cardiac death is not only common among the elderly, but it can affect younger people as well. These are the main warning signs.
Completely without warning, it can happen that the heart muscle no longer works as it should. It may blink or twitch at a high rate, which prevents blood from circulating properly throughout the body. This can lead to ventricular fibrillation, which leads to circulatory collapse in a very short period of time. The heart stops beating, blood pressure drops to “zero”.
According to “Lebens.Med Zentrum St. Pölten”, around 15,000 people die of sudden cardiac death in Austria every year. This represents about 17% of all deaths. Those affected usually already have a long-standing disease of the coronary arteries, which is why these cases are often dismissed as a disease of old age. However, not only the elderly are affected, as the German Heart Foundation warns.
Many deaths could be prevented
Although it is rare, it happens – even in young sportsmen under 40, emphasizes Thomas Voigtländer, chairman of the board of the German Heart Foundation. According to Voigtländer, if more people knew about the risk of “quick death” and their own hereditary predisposition, many deaths at an early age could be avoided.
To combat this, a list of warning signs has been published. While not always accurate, “however, in our detailed investigations of sudden cardiac deaths, we certainly see red flags that have often been misjudged.”
These are the warning signs:
Seizures without clear pathologic findings (eg, epilepsy)
Sudden unexplained deaths at a young age within the family, including unexpected sudden death in water
Short periods of unconsciousness (syncope), especially when triggered by stress, loud, squeaky alarm clocks, or physical exertion
Unexplained car accidents within the family
Cardiac pacemaker or heart failure before age 50