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When Anthony Bates died of a heart attack while driving home from a work out 5 years ago, mom Sharon didn't know anything about Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). Sadly for the 20 year-old Kansas State defensive lineman and his family, death is too often the first symptom of HCM- one of many heart conditions that have taken the lives of more than a thousand young athletes since 1985, according to the Minneapolis Heart Institution.
But pending legislation in Congress may help save kids like Bates. On March 9, Representative Carolyn Mccarthy (D-N.Y>) will reintroduce the Teague Act. Named for the son of Hofstra University wrestling coach who died of cardiac arrest last year, the bill would authorize $20 million in grant money for groups like the Anthony Bates Foundation (founded by Sharon). The broad aim is to educate health care workers, raise public awareness and, most important, implement regular cardiac screenings for kids, especially at risk athletes.
Studies show that 90% of student jocks who suffer sudden cardiac death lose there lives while training or competing. And patients with HCM, the number 1 cause of sudden death in young jocks are likely to have abnormal electrocardiograms. Translation: arrhythmia screenings can prevent sudden death.
Barry Maron, who heads the HCM center at the Minneapolis Heart Institute, says the numbers-about 1 in 500 people have HCM-don't tell the extent of the problem. "There are surely kids dying that we don't know about because their stories don't make the media" he says. His center is one of growing numbers of groups joining the fight. The nonprofit HCM Association, for instance, is starting a Lance Armstrong-like campaign by selling Let the Beat Go On wristbands (4HCM.org).
But the Teague Act, which failed to pass last year amid concerns that the bill was too vague, still faces an uphill battle. "It often takes years to get something through," McCarthy says. Meantime, Sharon Bates has a message for jocks (and their parents): "Because you're young doesn't mean you cant have a heart attack. Get yourself checked out."
Myron Metlcalf
ESPN-March 14, 2005 edition
But pending legislation in Congress may help save kids like Bates. On March 9, Representative Carolyn Mccarthy (D-N.Y>) will reintroduce the Teague Act. Named for the son of Hofstra University wrestling coach who died of cardiac arrest last year, the bill would authorize $20 million in grant money for groups like the Anthony Bates Foundation (founded by Sharon). The broad aim is to educate health care workers, raise public awareness and, most important, implement regular cardiac screenings for kids, especially at risk athletes.
Studies show that 90% of student jocks who suffer sudden cardiac death lose there lives while training or competing. And patients with HCM, the number 1 cause of sudden death in young jocks are likely to have abnormal electrocardiograms. Translation: arrhythmia screenings can prevent sudden death.
Barry Maron, who heads the HCM center at the Minneapolis Heart Institute, says the numbers-about 1 in 500 people have HCM-don't tell the extent of the problem. "There are surely kids dying that we don't know about because their stories don't make the media" he says. His center is one of growing numbers of groups joining the fight. The nonprofit HCM Association, for instance, is starting a Lance Armstrong-like campaign by selling Let the Beat Go On wristbands (4HCM.org).
But the Teague Act, which failed to pass last year amid concerns that the bill was too vague, still faces an uphill battle. "It often takes years to get something through," McCarthy says. Meantime, Sharon Bates has a message for jocks (and their parents): "Because you're young doesn't mean you cant have a heart attack. Get yourself checked out."
Myron Metlcalf
ESPN-March 14, 2005 edition
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