maternal death. Women who experience pregnancy-related
health problems—including preeclampsia—have a higher risk
of developing heart disease following childbirth.
Emily Petersen, MD, FACOG LCDR, a medical officer in the
CDC’s reproductive health division, says the federal govern-
ment is working with state-based health care networks to
standardize care and look for situations when interventions
could make the biggest difference.
There’s also a push to increase education about bias.
“Some hospitals and health care systems have imple-
mented training on implicit or unconscious bias to think about
how people’s backgrounds and unconsciousness may be
affecting their care,” Petersen says.
Langer says publicizing cases such as Williams’ or those
profiled in investigative stories in recent years also help tackle
the problem.
“It’s important to illustrate what’s happening and make the
public aware because it can encourage the health establish-
ment to take on this crisis much more seriously,” she says.
In the end, Bryant Mantha says, the blame, and the solution,
belongs to everyone.
“It feels like an (obstetrician) problem, but really, maternal
mortality is a broader societal problem,” she says. “If everyone
pays a little more attention to their piece of the pie, hopefully
we can start to move the needle.”
— SOURCE: AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATIONEx-NFL Players Face Higher Risk of Irregular Heartbeat
National Football League (NFL) veterans face a
much higher risk of a type of irregular heartbeat that
can lead to stroke, a new study suggests.
Ex-players were found to be nearly six times
more likely to have atrial fibrillation (AFib) than
men of a similar age who didn’t play professional
football. The athletes’ risk was higher even though
they had fewer risk factors for CVD, including type
2 diabetes and high blood pressure, and had lower
resting heart rates.
This is the first study to connect AFib with an elite
sport that requires muscle strength, according to the
authors, whose work was recently published in the
Journal of the American Heart Association.
“Most former NFL athletes with AFib were
unaware of any symptoms and yet should have been
taking blood thinners to prevent stroke,” according to lead
author Dermot Phelan, MD, PhD. Phelan, director of the
Sports Cardiology Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio,
says the findings highlight “the importance of being vigilant
and intermittently checking for AFib in this group.”
AFib occurs when the electrical impulses that initiate
each heartbeat fire erratically, causing the atria—the
top chambers of the heart—to quiver. This can cause
blood to pool in the atria and form a clot. The clot can
travel to a blood vessel leading to the brain and cause a
stroke. Pacemakers help treat the problems of electrical
conduction in the heart.
Previous studies linked long-term participation in
endurance sports, such as marathon running, with an
increased risk of AFib. Phelan says the prolonged strength
training involved in football might increase heart chamber
size and wall thickness, which can alter heart rhythms and
electrical signals in the heart.The researchers compared 460 former NFL players
with 925 nonplayers. Both groups were middle-aged, and
about one-half in each group were African American.
Among former players, 5% had AFib compared with 0.5%
of men in the control group.
AFib risk was higher among men who were older, white,
and heavier, all known risk factors for AFib.
The authors caution, however, the new data should be
placed in the context of other research showing former NFL
players are at lower risk of death overall and from heart-
related issues compared with the general population.
“For the majority of people, the benefits of both aerobic
exercise, such as walking, and strength training, such as
working with weights, is strongly linked to a healthier heart,
and this study should not discourage people from being
physically active,” Phelan says. “Mild to moderate exercise
reduces the risk of atrial fibrillation for most people.”
— SOURCE: AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATIONaugust 2019 http://www.todaysdietitian.com 17