‘He laid down and all of a sudden he lost consciousness.’ Said Abby, Brenon’s wife1.
When the 28-year-old Brenan met his friends for a game of basketball, he didn’t expect to start feeling dizzy and have a heart attack. He certainly didn’t expect to lose his life a couple of days later.
Brenan carried a gene for a rare heart condition (Brugada Syndrome) that causes irregular heartbeat. Cleveland Clinic2 explains that the irregular rhythm affects blood pumping to the brain causing a person to faint or experience a heart attack.
Irregular heart rhythm – ventricular arrhythmia – is sadly one of the silent dangers. And, as Brenan’s case shows, it can happen at any age.
Is there anything we can do to protect ourselves?
Risking sounding a little cliché – ‘knowledge is power’. Brenan’s wife admitted that too, ‘That’s frustrating because Brenan [was] a very smart person, and he would have listened to the advice doctors gave him if it was provided – and it wasn’t.’ 1
At this point you might be wondering if there are any symptoms of irregular heart rhythm you should be aware of.
There are, but very often a person can be asymptomatic and only start showing symptoms later in life. In the case of Brugada Syndrome symptoms start occurring at the age of 40 or older.
There is, however, one symptom that is always there – right in the heart (literally).
Monitoring your heart
Monitoring your heart and collecting detailed data on its performance is one of the best ways to proactively manage any heart condition. This knowledge will allow you, and your doctor, to discuss and decide on any precautions you should take.
Regular checks of the performance of your heart will allow you to see the effectiveness of any lifestyle changes you make or of any medication you are prescribed for managing a heart condition.
If you are interested in finding out more about ways we can help you monitor your heart, this link will take you to our homepage.
Let’s stay heart-happy!
References
- News story: ‘Medical Student, 28, Dies of Cardiac Arrest After Collapsing During Basketball Game’ – access link
- Cleveland Clinic: Brugada Syndrome – access link
