Mayo Clinic to provide cardiac screening to retired NFL players during Super Bowl week

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Mayo Clinic, the Living Heart Foundation and the National Football League Players Association are teaming up to provide retired NFL players comprehensive screenings for cardiovascular disease before the 2007 Super Bowl in Miami, Fla.

The screening is part of a national initiative to raise public awareness of the dangers of cardiovascular disease and also part of a study to determine whether NFL players have a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease as a result of the physical demands of their job. Abnormally high body mass, prevalent among highly competitive football players, can result in serious medical disorders leading to high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke.

Recent medical research findings indicate that some retired NFL linemen also have persistent enlarged hearts, and that half of retired NFL linemen also have Metabolic Syndrome, a condition defined in part by hypertension, pre-diabetes and elevated cholesterol. Typically, linemen are required to maintain or increase their size and strength to ensure their competitive abilities - potentially exposing them to health issues later in life.

State of the art equipment generously donated by Siemens will be used to perform the screenings. Arthur Agatston, M.D., cardiologist, associate professor of medicine at University of Miami and author of The South Beach Diet will host the screening at the South Beach Diet headquarters. Health care personnel will conduct a series of tests, including an electrocardiogram, carotid and cardiac ultrasound, lung function study, body composition analysis, blood testing and sleep apnea testing. Data collected from the screening of the players will be forwarded to Mayo Clinic for analysis and that information will be compiled into the first-ever medically based report examining the rate of cardiovascular disease among professional football players.

"It is important that NFL players consider the impact their career has on their heart health. We're encouraged that they will participate in this important screening event," said Todd Hurst, M.D., principal investigator for this study from the Division of Cardiology at Mayo Clinic. "Regular screening for signs of heart disease is important for everyone."

Mayo Clinic is the first and largest integrated, not-for-profit group practice in the world. As a leading academic medical center in the Southwest, Mayo Clinic focuses on providing specialty and surgical care in more than 65 disciplines at its outpatient facility in north Scottsdale and at Mayo Clinic Hospital. The 208-licensed bed hospital is located at 56th Street and Mayo Boulevard (north of Bell Road) in northeast Phoenix, and provides inpatient care to support the medical and surgical specialties of the clinic, which is located at 134th Street and Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale.

###

To obtain the latest news releases from Mayo Clinic, go to www.mayoclinic.org/news. MayoClinic.com is available as a resource for your health stories.