Gaines Adams dead

We were talking about this yesterday... With all of the medical tests and physicals they do on NFL players, could they test them for enlarged hearts?

Sadly we only find out someone has one after they've died.

 

I also recall the Olympic-caliber marathon runner that died a couple years ago in the trial from an enlarged heart.

Is it too rare to get tested for this? Too expensive compared to the incidence of it occurring?

 

Wow. RIP.

 

From the talkback on one of the stories...

"Even more evidence that the Bucs should have drafted Adrian Peterson."

 

OTL had something on this today. Said a regular EKG can help detect it. It's called HMC, or something like that. Apparently, Cuttino Mobley had it, knew he had it, and kept playing despite doctors telling him his condition was life-threatening. Every team he played for made him sign a waiver, releasing the team of any liability in case of death. Pretty interesting show today.

 

Ryan Shay. One of the best runners to come out of Michigan in a long long time.

 

Good read on SI.com about the subject. Makes the excellent point that enlarged hearts are common in athletes, and the problem is telling whether it's enlarged through exercise or disease.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/david_epstein/01/18/adams/index.html

 

http://www.indexjournal.com/articles/2010/02/12/sports/1a10213gaines.txt

A brief update. We received the toxicology report today.

 

No steroids or anything hard, though, it looks like. Just one beer and a joint who-knows-when.