“A cardioprotected society requires health, educational, sports and political cohesion”

We are progressing, but separately. We must generate meeting points, such as the one represented by this congress, and move forward together. To achieve a cardio-protected society, we need health, educational, sports and political cohesion.” This was expressed by Dr. Araceli Boraita, a cardiologist specializing in the assessment of elite athletes, at the National Congress against Sudden Death, organized by the Spanish Association against Sudden Death José Durán #7 (AEMS) and the QUAES Foundation, promoted by Cetir Ascires. The event, which celebrated its ninth edition today in Barcelona coinciding with the fifteen years of the AEMS, is consolidating itself as the engine of connection between the health, educational, political and sports fields and patients.

An annual event that, on this occasion, has been marked by the DANA catastrophe. A situation that means that, at this moment, the QUAES Foundation is dedicated to providing support in Valencia and, for the first time in the history of the congress, has not been able to be present. But we must continue sharing and generating knowledge about sudden death, a reality that claims the lives of 35,000 people a year in Spain and whose prevention cannot be postponed.

CPR in schools

In Spain, a cardiac arrest occurs every 20 minutes. The chances of survival, if it occurs on the street, range between 5% and 10%, while, in the Nordic countries, they are 30%. Where does the difference lie? In our country, training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques is only received in 16% of schools, compared to the reality of other countries, where the teaching of this practice is mandatory in both schools and universities. The representative for Barcelona in Congress Carmen Andrés has shared the status of the non-law proposal presented by the socialist parliamentary group in 2021.

A proposal, approved unanimously, which requested that CPR learning in Spanish schools be curricular. The Government included it in 2022 in the National Cardiovascular Health Strategy of the National Health System (SNS), providing a more preventive approach: “It was urged to promote the training of students and the educational community – schools and universities – in skills to apply resuscitation techniques and technologies and to activate the alert in the health emergency system. “Also to extend basic training to the entire population and study the standardization of records related to cardiac arrest in young people, especially in sports.” Currently, to meet these objectives, the involvement of the autonomous communities, competent in education and health, is essential. Hence the claim of the AEMS and the QUAES Foundation, the two entities that promote this congress.

Children and sports

Children should practice sports, with or without heart disease, but adapted to each case. This is what the representatives of pediatric cardiology have expressed at the congress. Almost 4 out of every 10 Spanish children are obese or overweight, and encouraging a sedentary lifestyle for fear that children with heart disease will practice sports is a mistake that can lead to aggravating this epidemic, as well as conditions such as hypercholesterolemia or type 2 diabetes. Palpitations , chest pain, intense dizziness or intolerance to physical exercise are some of the signs that may indicate heart disease in the child. Diagnosing and treating it is becoming easier, thanks to the advancement of electrocardiograms and imaging technologies.

Once identified, sports adaptation to said heart disease is key. Dr. David Crespo, pediatric cardiologist at the Fundación de Alcorcón University Hospital, has shared some clinical guidelines for cardiovascular evaluation prior to sports practice in pediatrics, because “although in Spain we already had the Clinical Practice Guides of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) on physical activity in heart patients and medical examination systems for the practice of sports of the Higher Sports Council, were not designed specifically for that age group.

About AEMS and the QUAES Foundation

The Spanish Association against Sudden Death José Durán #7 has been working since 2009 to promote research into this disease and raise awareness about the need to reduce sudden death through cardioprotection of all types of spaces. With his impetus, more than 300 public places have already been cardioprotected with the implantation of defibrillators. The QUAES Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing medical innovation and scientific advances between patients, society and physicians. Promoted by Cetir Ascires, it cooperates with more than one hundred patient associations throughout Spain.

Sports reviews

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. In Spain, after many years as well, in 2023 tumors were slightly ahead, with 26.6% of total deaths, compared to 26.5% for heart disease. Unfortunately, one in three deaths can be attributed to cardiac pathology, and sport or exercise, correctly prescribed, is a first-line tool to prevent it. In patients with certain underlying heart diseases, competitive sports significantly increase the risk of sudden death by acting as a trigger for cardiac arrest. That is why medical checkups are vital for athletes.

In the words of the sprinter Jaël Bestué, from her Olympic experience, “the Spanish Federation has a requirement to be eligible, both for the Olympic Games and for any international competition, to have a stress test carried out in the last twelve months. It is something that all sports federations should promote to avoid risks that can be serious.”