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OVER the weekend (June 30), the badminton fraternity was shocked and saddened by the sudden demise of 17-year-old promising China shuttler Zhang Zhijie who collapsed on the court during a mixed team match at the Asian Junior Championships in Yogyakarta.
“The world of badminton has lost a talented player. Zhijie was playing a group match against Japan when he collapsed,” Badminton Asia pointed out in a statement.
“He was attended by the tournament doctor and medical team and was sent to the hospital in a standby ambulance in less than two minutes. He passed away at 11.30pm local time on June 30.”
Added the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) spokesman Broto Happy at a media conference in Yogyakarta: “Medical conclusions … indicated that the victim experienced sudden cardiac arrest.”
17-year-old Chinese badminton player #ZhangZhijie (张志杰) has died of cardiac arrest after collapsing on the court during a tournament in Indonesia yesterday.
In an interview he received earlier, he expressed his wish to prove that he was not inferior to the other two athletes… pic.twitter.com/f6txdX7Qxu
— Inconvenient Truths by Jennifer Zeng (@jenniferzeng97) July 1, 2024
What happened to Zhijie simply highlights that if healthy, fit-looking athletes can succumb to cardiac arrest although this is relatively rare, then such severe heart condition can strike anybody, including those who pursue an active lifestyle and deem themselves fit as a fiddle.
When mentioning cardiac arrest, there is a need to distinguish it from heart attack for the latter happens when blood flow to the heart is blocked. A cardiac arrest occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating.
Exercise in moderation
In other words, sudden cardiac arrest can happen to people who have no known heart disease. Chennai-based Apollo Specialty Hospitals interventional cardiologist Anand Gnanaraj has provided two basic reasons for sudden death during excessive physical activity.
Below is his interesting insight as to why athletes get a cardiac arrest (courtesy of Quora):
The commonest cause for that in athletes below the age of 35 is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy which is a genetic cellular level heart muscle disorder that makes the heart muscle grow thicker without any provocation (like high blood pressure or a narrowed valve).
This disorder is usually detected on echocardiography. It can also remain very subtle and present for the first time as sudden death.
The commonest reason for sudden death in people over 35 is coronary artery disease which is blocks in the coronary arteries. Most people don’t bother to check their fitness for extreme physical activity and assume good health because they have not had a problem thus far.
Hence, when put through extreme exertion, a silent block could become lethal.
I personally don’t think humans are built to run 10 or 20km at one shot. Well, there are people who train for it and they are usually conditioned.
It’s often the over-enthusiastic marathon runner who gets into trouble. These runners are not trained and are usually driven by some marketing campaign to start running. This is dangerous.
Jogging on a regular basis with progressively increasing distance or speed is fine. But too much of anything is not good. Everyone needs physical activity in some form. Everyone needs to cut down on carbs intake.
Taking supplements for improving physical capacity or appearance is the worst possible abuse. – July 2, 2024
