“From Our Heart to Yours!”

“From Our Heart to Yours!” Here to Heart

______ ________ • Here to Heart is a mobile unit focused on improving the lives of the people it serves by providing high quality screening and medical education.

Every Young Heart is a Healthy One

_______ ___________ • *The physical examinations that clear most athletes for competition are often cursory. • *Physicians usually charge nominal fees for the infamous "sports physical," • *Sometimes the sports physicals are perform en mass, just to get the players onto the field.

_______ ___________ • *The assumption -- usually a safe one -- that young competitors are healthy. • *Although many cardiac problems are probably missed during perfunctory examinations, even a thorough evaluation doesn't always catch a potentially fatal cardiac problem. • *The first sign of a deadly disorder is often the abrupt cessation of a normal heartbeat, followed by collapse. • http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110308/hl_ac/8014144_sudden_cardiac_death_in_young_athletes

_______ ___________ • Even when a cardiac examination seems routine -- normal blood pressure, regular rhythm, no murmurs or other unusual sounds, provocative tests negative -- there's no guarantee that an abnormality in the heart's plumbing or wiring won't cause problems when the athlete is under duress:* Anomalous coronary arteries, where the heart's blood vessels fail to supply sufficient oxygen when the athlete's pulse quickens, can cause chest pain or, as is too often the case, sudden death. • *Obstruction of blood flow through the heart, which occurs in a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, can lead to collapse and death.

_______ ___________ • * Aberrant electrical phenomena within the heart's conduction system can cause "short circuits" or runaway heart rhythms that degenerate into lethal dysrhythmias.* Thickening of the muscular wall of the heart's left ventricle, which can cause sudden death in young individuals, is actually more prevalent in well-conditioned athletes.Unfortunately, many of the abnormalities that contribute to cardiac arrest only emerge when exercise induces an increase in heart rate, so they may not be detected in a doctor's office. • http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110308/hl_ac/8014144_sudden_cardiac_death_in_young_athletes

Prevention of Sudden Death in Athletes Not “Cost-Effective”

Athlete's EKG Screening • Nationwide, about 90 young athletes a year die of sudden cardiac death. A new study suggests a cost-effective way to lower that rate: screening athletes with an electrocardiogram. • http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/research/briefs-study-says-ekg-screening-for-young-athletes-can-be-cost-effective/1077198

Athlete's EKG Screening (cont.) • An analysis published in the Annals of Internal Medicine uses estimates from an Italian study. The authors of the new report created a computer simulation of how American athletes 14 to 22 years old would be affected by screening. They found that compared with no screening at all, screening with only a medical history and a physical exam saves 0.56 life-years per 1,000 athletes, and costs about $111 per person. Adding an EKG would save 2.06 more life-years per 1,000 athletes at an extra cost of $89 per athlete. But Dr. Euan A. Ashley, the senior author of the study, noted there's more to the story. "That something is cost-effective does not mean that there is the money available to do it," he said. • In Print: Thursday, March 4, 2010 • http://www.tampabay.com/news/health/research/briefs-study-says-ekg-screening-for-young-athletes-can-be-cost-effective/1077198

________________ • is a quick and non-invasive procedure that records the electrical impulse produced by every heartbeat to gain information about a patient's heart such as: *duration of heart contraction, *the direction of the impulse, and *the strength of the contraction. This information is very helpful in determining the overall health of the patient's heart and can be used to identify problems in conduction, rate, or even early detection of a heart attack.

________________ • If every prospective athlete was subjected to an exercise treadmill test and an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) before being allowed to practice or compete, many cases of cardiac arrest and sudden death could be prevented. However, the universal application of such tests would be exorbitantly expensive, and -- because the death of an athlete due to heart problems is a relatively rare event -- insurance companies would balk at covering these "unjustified" expenditures in healthy individuals.

___ __ __ • The cost of an EKG in a hospital setting would be as followed: • First, a technician, such as an ER Tech or if admitted, an EKG tech would perform the test. This varies on hospital to hospital, but price just for the test is $40-80. • Next, the technician cannot read it and give a diagnosis... it would go onto a physician or other provider. The interpretation fee is usually $80-200. In an ER setting, the charge is usually done in just one lump fee. • http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Cost_of_EKG_medical_procedure

Unrecognizable Heart Problems Announce Themselves in Deadly Fashion

It is often difficult to consider that someone who is apparently young and fit may be at risk…

Michigan Fennville High School's Wes Leonard puts up the winning shot in a 57-55 win over Bridgman in Fennville, Mich., Thursday, March 3, 2011. Leonard collapsed on the court and later died after making the game-winning layup in overtime to cap his team's perfect season. (AP Photo/The Holland Sentinel, D.J. Geppert)

ColoradoMatthew Hammerdorfer, 17, who collapsed after taking a tackle to the chest near Denver.

Texas (March 14, 2011)—Roma High School junior Robert Garza, 16, collapsed while playing in an amateur tournament in Austin and later died.

“A three minute EKG can be life saving!!”

______ _ • Here to Heart • (956) 655 - 1124

“From Our Heart to Yours!”