It is interesting that there is a subset of the population who may be at significant risk with exercise, specifically those with Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and a handful of other conditions. For many people with HCM, they will never feel a single thing and thousands in the U.S. will die from it each year.
As I understand it, HCM is caused by a single genetic error. This video does a solid job exploring causes of sudden cardiac death, as well as screening for HCM.
It includes a fair bit of dramatic footage of athletes experiencing cardiac arrest (“dropping dead”) on the field. Modern medicine is doing a lot to help keep many of these athletes alive, but sadly for many of them their first symptom is their last.
