It is unfortunate that many of these conditions may not cause any symptoms until cardiac arrest actually occurs, and all too often, the first symptoms one experiences are tragically also the last.
Boca Raton, Florida (PRWEB) November 06, 2015
Wimbledon Health Partners, the industry leader in on-site diagnostic testing for physicians and athletic programs, applauds recent federal legislation introduced by Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. to increase awareness about the risk of sudden cardiac arrest in young students. Through his Cardiomyopathy Health Education, Awareness, Risk Assessment and Training in the Schools (HEARTS) Act, Pallone wants to ensure that schools are more aware of, and prepared for, a cardiac emergency.
Pallone, U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s Sixth Congressional District, drew his inspiration for the bill from the death of two New Jersey high school athletes in 2009, eight months apart, from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy—the most dangerous abnormality and leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest in athletes. The legislation mobilizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control, as well as patient advocacy and health professional organizations, to develop and distribute life-saving materials about sudden cardiac arrest to schools, teachers and parents.
“It’s really a combination of preparedness, a better diagnosis and also just making people more aware,” Pallone said at a press conference last week to introduce his bill. “The focus is really on the schools and teachers, because that’s really where most of these incidents occur.”
Dr. Bradley Artel, Chief Medical Officer at Wimbledon Health Partners, has stated that the incidence of sudden cardiac death in school-aged competitive athletes is higher than what had been reported as recently as fifteen years ago, according to recent peer-reviewed periodicals. “It is unfortunate that many of these conditions may not cause any symptoms until cardiac arrest actually occurs, and all too often, the first symptoms one experiences are tragically also the last,” he emphasizes, “thus making it very important to diagnose these disorders as early as possible.”
Dr. Artel goes on to say that, while it is virtually impossible to determine how many prior deaths may have been prevented by diagnostic testing, it has been established that electro- and echocardiograms have the ability to detect the cardiac diseases that make up the greatest proportion of deaths from sudden cardiac arrest. With the cooperation of athletic directors across the country, the athletic divisions of Wimbledon Health Partners have been able to bring diagnostic testing to the campuses of many schools to test student athletes for heart abnormalities.
About Wimbledon Health Partners:
Wimbledon Health Partners formed in 2013 to meet the need for on-site diagnostic testing at physicians’ offices. The industry leader, Wimbledon Health Partners provides physicians with state-of-the-art, in-office testing to detect circulatory conditions using vascular ultrasound and electro- and echocardiography. Nerve conduction velocity testing is also used to support diagnosis of problems related to the nervous and muscular systems.
About Wimbledon Athletics:
Wimbledon Athletics, the newest division of Wimbledon Health Partners, is pioneering the way for high schools, colleges and universities to test students for unsuspected heart abnormalities to help minimize sudden cardiac death among young athletes.
For more information on how your office or school can partner with Wimbledon, visit us at http://www.dxtesting.com or call us at (855) 200-8262.