Heart health tests for Meath and Down's 1991 teams - with surprising results
Members of the 1991 Down and Meath squads that contested the All-Ireland football final that year completed coronary calcification (CAC) scans to help promote awareness of heart disease - and how to catch it early.
The testing and its results were initially featured in an icon loaded, entertaining 30 minute documentary short screened to both squads and guests in the Croke Park Hotel back in November last (available free to watch at IHDA.ie). 48 players across both squads completed the testing and participated in the project, including Down legends Mickey Linden, James McCartan, Greg Blaney and winning captain Paddy O’Rourke. Meath rolled out the big guns too, with Bernard Flynn, Colm O’Rourke, Martin O’Connell, David Beggy and Gerry McEntee showing up for their CAC scans.
The ideal score for calcium plaque in the arteries ranging is zero, but only 16 of the 48 participants in “Extra Time” were revealed to be free from heart disease. Surprisingly, despite Paddy O’Rourke’s superb fitness levels, his CAC score in excess of 1200 shocked the medical experts to reveal advanced, underlying atherosclerosis (as indicated by high levels of calcium in his arteries).
The feature length version of the documentary follows Paddy’s journey to understand his illness, identify the causal factors and execute a solution with the guidance of Preventive Cardiologist Dr Scott Murray, president of the BACPR.
Dr Murray said: “Paddy’s results confirm what we know for middle aged men and women. Regardless of weight or fitness levels, blood tests can be misleading and you really don’t know your risk for heart disease unless you have this CAC scan. The other key message in this movie is that lifestyle intervention can be more effective than any drugs to prevent, manage and even reverse heart disease. Paddy’s response and follow up scan results have been remarkable and will have profound implications for preventive cardiology and future cardiology research. His status remains legendary for reasons beyond football now.”
'Extra Time - Know your score’ - is produced by the Irish Heart Disease Awareness (IHDA) charity and the film maker and Gaelic Players’ Association (GPA) founder, Donal O’Neill.
The movie can be streamed or downloaded at www.extratimemovie.com
The IHDA was established by the Ballyboden based business titan David Bobbett to raise awareness of heart disease as a progressive and measurable disease that can be detected by a calcification test. The campaign encourages middle-aged men (over 45) and women (over 55) to "know their score", which is their level of calcium derived from a CT scan of the arteries.
Heart disease is Ireland’s biggest killer.
If you are a man aged 45 or over, or a woman aged 55 or over -
Get the CAC scan! Know your score!