Did you know that more than 12 apparently fit and healthy young people aged 14-35 die each week of an undiagnosed heart condition? That is the equivalent of an entire state secondary school of young people wiped out each year. It is very likely that you are only at one remove from someone who has experienced a family tragedy where a child has died of a sudden cardiac arrest. The saddest thing is that each of these lives lost could be prevented, and at less than the cost of a pair of football boots.
Since we lost our daughter last year, I am committed to ensuring that other families do not suffer what we have, that communities are aware of the risks and know what to do to protect their young people’s health and wellbeing.
Sudden cardiac arrest can strike anyone at any time and cause sudden death. Sometimes there are SYMPTOMS prior to death, these include red flags:
- CHEST PAIN during exercise is a RED FLAG
- PASSING OUT –when the person injures themselves because they do not put out their hands to break the fall this is a RED FLAG
- Other symptoms are more common like palpitations, breathlessness (disproportionate to the amount of exercise) and dizziness. These are often dismissed due to other causes such as diet, anxiety or depression, poor sleep etc
BUT you cannot rely on symptoms as 80% of all young sudden cardiac deaths (YSCD) will occur with no prior symptoms and the only way to identify people who are asymptomatic and at risk is through cardiac testing using at least an ECG.
1 in 300 young people are carrying a life-threatening heart condition which they more than likely know nothing about. 1 in 100 young people will be found to have a condition which could become serious in the future if not treated. While cardiac conditions can affect any young person irrespective of race, or environment or level of activity, we know that exercise and sport exacerbate the underlying condition, causing the condition to deteriorate and increases the risk of sudden cardiac arrest threefold.
Screening will not identify all young people at risk of sudden death. However, there are international recommendations that all young people should be tested prior to participation in organised sport. In Italy, where regular screening has been mandatory since 1982 for all young people engaged in organised sport, screening has reduced the incidence of young sudden cardiac death by 89%. In some professions, as well as in many football teams, screening is mandatory as the sooner a person knows if they have a condition the better.
The charity CRY was established in 1995 to give all young people the choice to have their heart tested and is the leading cardiac screening organisation in the UK. The screening programme is overseen by leading sports cardiologist, Professor Sanjay Sharma as part of a wider research programme to understand the incidence of cardiac conditions in young people and inform national policy on best practice to minimise the incidence and impact of young sudden death.
Currently funded by families who have lost loved ones, CRY offers free tests through www.testmyheart.org.uk to 14-35 year olds at centres based around the country conducted by specialist doctors. You can also organise CRY screening events to serve your specific community.
To date, more than 300,000 young people have been tested by CRY This has identified:
- More than 1,000 young people with potentially life-threatening conditions
- More than 3,000 young people with non-life-threatening conditions which can cause problems in later life, if not monitored or treated
- When a young person is identified with a condition, they may have to make lifestyle changes, have corrective surgery, take medication or in some cases they will need to have an ICD (internal cardiac defibrillator).
Any person with a family history of cardiac conditions (a sibling, parent or child) who either has an inherited condition or if there was a young death (under 50) due to an unknown reason or a heart condition, should contact CRY to help arrange a referral to a specialist.
Here is an uplifting story about how a young life was saved.
Here is the story of a mum who now dedicates her life to raising awareness and funds for screening events
Here is a story of a dad who has rowed the Atlantic to raise funds for screening in memory of his daughter.
You can read more about CRY’s work in their newsletter here.