Posted on 03/04/2011 9:23:10 AM PST by Rennes Templar
I can only imagine. When an accident, or even a disease like cancer, takes a young one like that, you can at least understand it and perhaps come to terms with it, but when it's something like that, so sudden, and without explanation, I don't know how a parent could deal with that.
I can’t imagine the pain his family and friends are going through right now.
How terrible.
It’s hereditary and I guess without a specific test you’d never know you had it until it’s to late. It’s truly sad for the family and classmates. Sounds like he was a good kid.
May God lead him into heaven.. Bless the family and I pray God is with them ..What a shock to them..
In order to help other young people, the family also should be aware that if this young man had been prescribed any medications recently, he may have suffered some side effect which was undetected, but which may contributed to his death.
Although all of us are aware of medication side effects, most may not be aware that there are now seveeral genetic tests which can be done to reduce the chance of being prescribed medications which either will not work or may have serious side effects because the patient is a Poor Metabolizer, an Intermediate Metabolizer, or an Ultrarapid Metabolizer.
Labs doing such tests include Lab Corp and AssureRx, but few doctors may be aware that lives can be saved, ineffective treatments avoided, and serious side effects sometimes avoided by giving patients a choice of such testing prior to prescribing high-powered medications which may alter their lives and those of their families. See.
Such may having nothing at all to do with this young man's death, but parents of an athlete who must take prescription medications, no matter how simple they may seem, might consider having the child tested for the type of drug-metabolizing enzymes unique to that individual. Genetic test results can be used throughout one's life, because they do not change, we are told.
A friend of mine who works in a university science department was ranting about energy drinks 3 years ago because of what the researchers were learning about them and how they are bad for teenagers. I don’t know if they published their research, but the friend was insistent that I make sure my children do not touch those drinks. But I have not heard any more from her since then.
Long QT syndrome.
I think they are disgusting too. But the coaches actually recommend them before an event if the kid is feeling a little under the weather just to get through the next hours, and even experts like Jillian Michaels say that caffeine before a workout, as long as you are hydrated, can enhance the workout somewhat.
I’m allergic to caffeine, fainted once when it was in a dessert in a restaurant, so I am not a fan, but I’d have to hear more about it being deadly before practice. Maybe the kids should drink a cold coffee drink instead? Coffee has been used for a long time.
read later
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/02/14/pediatrics-report-details-risks-energy-drinks/
I may be cynical about the brain power of the majority of high school coaches in the country, but I would NOT follow their advice regarding high doses of caffeine.
They did.
I’ve played coached and taught basketball for 54 years. This story has almost in tears it is such a stab in the heart. May God have mercy on this boy and ease the pain of his family and friends.
When I took my son into the heart center for a stress test and an echocardiogram, he leaned over and whispered to me "Mom, these are all OLD people".
Teenagers think of themselves as invincible. Only OLD people have heart conditions, etc., etc., etc.
ALL the men in my husband’s family have heart disease. That was my first thought when I read the article.
I know from personal experience. Discovered the hard way at 39 that I had it. Fortunately, I only went into tachycardia instead of the almost always fatal fibrillation. Now I get to walk around with a pacemaker/defibrillator implanted in my chest, but thankful to be alive and living a normal life.
This sometimes happens with new recruits (Army) whose condition is not discovered until they have a heart attack during PT. Tragic.
I have tachycardia. I won’t take the drugs they’ve tried to give me. The last time they gave me trenorman(sp?) made me feel terrible. I started taking extra magnesium and that seemed to help a lot. Mine is probably genetic, my mother and aunt have the same problem. If my heart really gets going wacky, I just sit, relax, take a slow deep breath and blow out slowly. Most of the time that does the trick, sometimes I have to do that two or three times.
He was also QB of the football team.
He was also QB of the football team.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.