CAIRO — Dr. Linda Walden recently co-authored an article in the American Heart Association Journal titled “Lessons in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention From Number 42: The Told and Untold Stories of Jackie Robinson.”

The article details the life of Robinson and his diagnosis with Type 2 diabetes.

Jackie Robinson was the first African American person to play major league baseball making his debut in the spring of 1847 with the Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of 28.

Wearing number 42, Robinson broke the color barrier in America’s cherished and pastime sport.

Robinson would go on to win the league’s Most Valuable Player Award only two years later, leading in batting average and stolen bases. In addition to playing professional baseball, Robinson was a champion for civil rights and a pioneer in human dignity, consistently persevering through challenges of racial discrimination on and off the field.

Despite being an all -star professional athlete and major league baseball’s most valuable player, Robinson’s end of career and post-baseball life were affected by adverse cardio metabolic health and mental stress.

In 1952, at the age of 33, Robinson was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and it was noted that his weight would regularly fluctuate throughout his career.

Shortly after his rookie season, Robinson and his friends celebrated on a trip through the Southern U.S., where it was claimed he gained 25 pounds due to his poor dietary habits. He also regularly traveled back to support his hometown of Cairo, Georgia.

Although Robinson did have access to medical care, many of his risk factors were reportedly largely untreated until the end of his career, when he started to experience complications from his Type 2 diabetes, including progressive loss of vision, while playing baseball.

Robinson’s Type 2 diabetes and obesity would unfortunately contribute to his early passing in 1972 at the age of 53, due to sudden cardiac death.

According to Walden’s research, Robinson’s death could have been delayed, or even prevented, with appropriate approaches to lifestyle and pharmacotherapies, in addition to resilience strategies geared toward mitigating mental stress and racial discrimination.

The untold story of Robinson specifically illustrates that no person is immune to the development of ASCVD risk factors and their sequelae, but also demonstrates the potential benefits of comprehensive prevention.

Walden was thrilled to be a part of this article, as she has made it her life’s mission to “help somebody,” much like her cousin, Robinson.