BOSTON -- There's growing interest in sudden cardiac death in athletes. While it's rare, some research suggests screening young athletes for heart defects would prevent a potentially fatal attack.

NewsCenter 5's Kelley Tuthill reported Wednesday on warning signs parents should look out for.

When Steve Soucy, of Chelmsford, was 8 years old, he could no longer catch his breath while running. A test revealed he had to give up soccer and baseball.

"If I run too much, or do weightlifting, it's hard," he said.

He suffers from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It's one of several heart disorders that put people, like Soucy, at risk of suffering sudden cardiac death.

"Somewhere in the order of one in 200,000 to one in 300,000 young people who are involved in some athletic activity can have sudden cardiac death," said Dr. Ami Bhatt, a cardiologist with Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, the MGH Heart Center and the MGH Congenital Heart Disease Program.

Bhatt says far more common this time of year are athletes who collapse because they're dehydrated or aren't conditioned. Even so, some European countries mandate screening young athletes for underlying heart problems or abnormalities before they turn fatal. But that's not the case in the United States.

"I think it's very important to remember that sudden cardiac death is rare. So we don't want parents to be worried that their child is the one. We just want them to be alert. That if there are symptoms that are concerning, we definitely taking a closer look at them," she said.

Bhatt said signs to look for include chest pain, pressure, discomfort while exercising, shortness of breath, fainting or dizziness.

"Also, kids who used to be able to do an activity, and now can't do that same level of activity. That's definitely something to look into further," she said.

And it was Soucy's mother's persistence and awareness that led to his diagnosis.