National Service recruits to be screened for heart disorder in drive to save young lives

Thousands of National Service recruits are being screened for genetic heart disorders to cut the number of sudden deaths among young people.

Doctors are concerned about the high prevalence of genetic conditions among the population.

“National Service now have routine screening for all the young men and if there is anything abnormal, they are referred to a cardiologist,” said Dr Hani Sabbour, from Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi.

Physicians said some conditions had no obvious symptoms and young people with heart problems might not have them diagnosed unless they noticed the signs themselves. The chance to screen large groups of young people at a time could save lives.

Dr Sabbour pointed to research that showed about half of all sudden cardiac-related deaths occur without prior symptoms.

Four genetic heart disorders can cause sudden deaths in young people. There are no reliable statistics for people who suffer these disorders in the Middle East, but because genetic diseases are prevalent here, doctors estimate that the numbers are high.

“If you have anybody who has a family history, where a young person who is healthy suddenly died without warning and without symptoms – died in their sleep or at work – that family needs to be seen by a cardiologist to evaluate if they have one of these disorders,” Dr Sabbour said.

Thirty per cent of sudden deaths in young people is linked to one of four heart diseases.

“There are no warnings, the first thing that happens is that the heart just stops,” Dr Sabbour said.

“There is no chest pain, patients just suddenly collapse.”

He said that according to a military hospital registry that had been developed since 2010, about 150 people had been diagnosed with the most common of the four disorders, Brugada syndrome.

“This is only at one hospital and if you think of the population of Abu Dhabi, and the fact that these are only the patients that were detected because they had a cardiac arrest and were resuscitated, then the actual number is probably triple that,” he said.

“I have a patient, a police officer who was playing football with his friends, and he just collapsed.

“He was fortunate that his whole group had just completed basic CPR training so they started CPR and called 999.

“They had a defibrillator so immediately they shocked him back to life. We did genetic testing and it was abnormal so we invited his family for genetic testing and to be evaluated.

The Arab Coalition secured several strategic strongholds east of Sanaa and killed dozens of Houthis in a push to recapture the rebel-held capital.

The military operation was successful in cutting supply routes to Houthi militias deployed south of Sanaa, according to a Yemeni military source quoted by Saudi state news agency SPA.

Supported by the Saudi-led coalition, the Yemeni military was able to kill 15 Iranian-backed rebels in a days-long battle.

The advances came as the US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis travelled to Oman for talks on the Yemen conflict with Sultan Qaboos. Mr Mattis, who arrived in Muscat yesterday, said he would also discuss the boycott of Qatar in meetings with the Omani ruler, defence minister and other officials today. Oman is not a member of the Arab Coalition and has attempted to mediate an end to Yemen’s war.

“The Gulf’s cohesion is critical and we believe in maintaining stability in the region,” Mr Mattis said.

Meanwhile, dozens of Houthi militias were killed in air strikes aimed at weakening the rebels’ grip on the key Yemeni port city of Hodeidah.

Among those was General Ali Mohsen Al Mutri, who was killed along with several other Houthis in a farm hideout on the outskirts of Hodeidah.

This comes as a major setback to the rebels, who lost more than 70 fighters in a twoday battle last week.

Backed by the UAE Armed Forces, the coalition fighter jets pounded the militias’ military reinforcements along the Red Sea coast of Yemen leading to Hodeidah.

The air raids continue in an effort to destroy Houthi reinforcements and vehicles along the coast, as well as to prevent Houthi militias from infiltrating liberated areas.

On Saturday, Houthi rebels attacked the Yemen Red Crescent Society as corpses were transported from the outskirts of Sanaa, Anis Abdullah, the coordinator of international organisations in Aden, told The National.

“The Houthis pounded a car transferring the YRC team in Al Bayda while they were on their way to transfer corpses affiliated with the Houthi militia who were killed in the lastest battle with the Yemeni army,” Mr Abdullah said.