Hey, thanks k4korny! I was looking forward to your summary and
you really provided a lot of details. 
I've added my comments in colour below :
Originally posted by k4korny:
okie.. here's my report after watching the show.
in the past month there has been 3 mysterious death after running.
1 was a BMT Instructor, 19 years old. Died after a 5km run. 1 was
an army regular, 30+, died during a run in Jurong camp. the last
one was a PE teacher in a Primary sch, 27, just married. Died after
going for a jog with his wife.
All 3 were fit and had not suffering from any illness the time of
death. Except for the last one, who had a history of diabetes, but
was said to have recovered enough. All the runs were not considered
to be strenuous. So that rules out that it was complication over
flu or if it was a heat stroke.
According to the doctor, the 2nd one was caused by myocardiac
infarction. (rhonda, any idea?) The 1st one was caused by
cardiorespiratory arrest.. which basically is a catch-all phrase
that means the doc does not know what the heck is wrong.
A 'Myocardiac Infarction' is what's
known commonly as a 'heart attack'. For one of various reasons, the
heart muscles stopped getting oxygenated blood and the muscles
stopped functioning and thus, the heart stopped beating. Sometimes,
there are existing blockages in our arteries that we aren't aware
of and exercise could have dislodged them or bits of them and they
could have travelled up the bloodstream where they became lodged in
a narrower artery and caused obstruction. If it's a bad
obstruction, the bloodflow to the heart muscles stop and it
triggers an MI.
In 2003-2005, there has been an increase to about 600+ cases of
cardiac arrest among young ppl below 45.
[b]Possible Cause
According to the doc interviewed, what he suspects was that a heart
fipulation (sp?) occured, i.e. one of the valves were blocked,
which causes the heart to vibrate erratically, and stopped. Within
10min, the heart has to be electrically shocked to revive,
otherwise, the survival rate is less than 20%.
It's a 'Heart Fibrillation'. Imagine
you trying to start your engine whilst it makes that choking
noise... that's kinda an equivalent to a 'heart fibrillation'. Over
in the US, malls and oher public buildings and places have begun to
acquire portable defibrillators which can be accessed quickly in
times of emergency to save lives. In fact, they are incorporating
the use of the portable defibrillators in a few of their basic
First Aid courses too. We should start doing that here too, and
hopefully, soon. BTW, a defibrillator is that machine with the two
paddles you place on the patient's chest and the doc goes 'Stand
Clear!' before he presses the button and the fella suddenly jolts
up as an electric current passes through his chest. 
Precautions
Even though such incidents may sound scary, but the doc do
recommend people to exercise regularly. Exercising reduces the risk
of a clog artery that will lead to heart attack. But to prevent
such things from happening, there are some precautions you can
take.
- Increase your exercise routine in gradually. When you do too much
in a short period of time, it puts on too much stress to the heart
and it is not used to that kind of load.
- He suggested that a small part of these cases (about 20%) is
genetic. So, if there are any history of cardiac problem that runs
in your family, be careful when you run.
- Also, if you're a smoker, have diabetes, or high blood pressure,
stop when you feel any discomfort, and consult a doctor
immediately.
- One thing i would like to add is.. remember to warm down after a
strenuous exercise! Don't drink cold water immediately, or bend
over or lie down after a run. It causes your body to cool down too
fast and your heart rate to decrease too rapidly!
okie, end of report. Now for your comments! [/b]
