The media took control of a big issue during the start of the pandemic, bringing to attention myocarditis in athletes. In 2021 when collegiate athletics returned after a brief pause due to the pandemic, doctors and trainers started to see symptoms and research possible reasons for why athletes were passing out during their competitions. (Wolken, 2021). In February 2021, Keyontae Johnson, a basketball player at the University of Florida, collapsed to the ground after what seemed to be a condition known as myocarditis (Wolken, 2021). At first, there was major concern that there was a strong link between athletes who were diagnosed with COVID and later developed acute myocarditis similar to Johnson (Wolken, 2021). This led to great concern by doctors who started requiring "extensive cardiac testing for any athlete who contracted COVID" in several of the Power 5 conferences (Wolken, 2021). Several of the MRI's ended up saving the athletes life, and the media made sure to show all of the major collegiate athletes who suffered from myocarditis even if it was not related to post-COVID issues. Researchers of major media outlets had still done little research when this specific article came out discussing whether or not there was a link between COVID and myocarditis (Wolken, 2021).
The pandemic moved very quickly through many different variants that allowed for media articles to get information out before publicated scientific literature (Hughes, Orchard, Partridge, La Gerrche & Broderick). Luckily, the number of young athletes with cardiac complications was low, and there was especially low rates among athletes and those who do get it are always brought back into exercise with a cautious approach (Hughes et al., 2022). However, media outlets caused great concern and a need for major tests done on all athletes who suffered from COVID before any research had been completes. Medical professionals now suggest that cardiac testing should only be considered when symptoms are severe, and if symptoms are improving then return to exercise protocols should be used (Hughes et al., 2022). While there was a major concern initially of myocarditis among athletes, science confirms that the media may put out scary information to the public before real-world scientists can reassure that there are not major concerns (Hughes et al., 2022).
As we continue to move forward throughout this pandemic and into a technology filled society, it is important to remember that there might be variants or diseases that are blown out of proportion as the media is able to publish articles quicker than science articles.
Hughes, D. C., Orchard, J. W., Partridge, E. M., La Gerche, A., & Broderick, C. (2022). Return to exercise post-covid-19 infection: A pragmatic approach in mid-2022. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 25(7), 544–547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2022.06.001
Wolken, D. (2021, February 3). Doctors say heart condition that led to Keyontae Johnson's collapse isn't covid-related. USA Today. Retrieved October 2, 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/sec/2021/02/03/keyontae-johnson-collapse-heart-condition-not-covid-related-florida/437941700/
This is super interesting Hannah! I was just wondering, what are some of the symptoms of myocarditis other than passing out that had trainers and coaches so worried, or were there any? Along with this, I cannot help but wonder if there are specific ways we can filter the information we receive in order to prevent the spread of misinformation. It seems like the best option to me would be to really dive into research about these topics in order to be fully educated before just assuming, but should it be on me to go looking for this research or on the scientists and doctors to provide and spread that research?
ReplyDeleteBeing an athlete during COVID, this was very interesting to read. I'm wondering if one of the reasons why more athletes started to develop symptomatic myocarditis is simply due to lack of exercise during the quarantine phase of the pandemic followed by a sudden increase of exercise when they were out of shape, which happened for the vast majority of athletes. It is highly likely that SARS-CoV-2 did cause these cases of myocarditis, but this increase of exercise likely just exacerbated it. Accordig to Daniels et al., very few collegiate athletes who had myocarditis showed clinical symptoms. So, it is important to at least be cautious if you have been diagnosed with this virus previously. I think that more research needs to be done to see who is at risk of developing it after infection and how long an athlete must take off of practice before resuming normal physical activity.
ReplyDeleteDaniels, C. J., Rajpal, S., Greenshields, J. T., Rosenthal, G. L., Chung, E. H., Terrin, M., Jeudy, J., Mattson, S. E., Law, I. H., Borchers, J., Kovacs, R., Kovan, J., Rifat, S. F., Albrecht, J., Bento, A. I., Albers, L., Bernhardt, D., Day, C., Hecht, S., Hipskind, A., … Big Ten COVID-19 Cardiac Registry Investigators (2021). Prevalence of Clinical and Subclinical Myocarditis in Competitive Athletes With Recent SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Results From the Big Ten COVID-19 Cardiac Registry. JAMA cardiology, 6(9), 1078–1087. https://doi-org.dml.regis.edu/10.1001/jamacardio.2021.2065