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Heart Screenings To Be Conducted At Morgan State

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Johns Hopkins heart specialists will be at a track meet at Morgan State University this weekend to screen athletes and spectators for problems that can cause sudden death.

The heart specialists will conduct the screenings Saturday during the National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships being held at the Baltimore university. About 6,000 athletes will be competing at the meet.

The screening will be offered to athletes and spectators between ages 14 and 18.

Dr. Theodore Abraham says the specialists will be particularly looking for an inherited condition in which heart muscle thickens, making it more difficult to pump blood. Abraham says the condition is the leading cause of sudden death among those under the age of 30.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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