55,000 Midlanders may have ‘sudden death’ gene Ex-England cricket star backs awareness drive on hidden killer
AGENE timebomb is putting 55,000 people in the West Midlands at risk of sudden death, an alarming report suggests.
The number of people living with a potential deadly heart condition legacy has been unveiled by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
It reckons they are carrying a faulty gene that puts them at high risk of developing coronary heart disease or sudden death.
Worryingly, the majority of people affected are undiagnosed and unaware that they may be at risk of a deadly heart attack or cardiac arrest, it says.
The figure is higher than previous estimates due to better understanding of the prevalence of inherited heart conditions.
And the leading heart research charity warned the overall figure could be much higher due to underdiagnoses and undiscovered faulty genes which can increase a person’s risk of these potentially fatal conditions.
Former England cricketer James Taylor is backing the BHF’s campaign after being forced to retire at the age of 26 after being diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) in April last year.
ARVC is an inherited heart condition that causes heart muscle to be replaced by fibrous tissue and fat so the ventricle becomes thin and stretched, meaning the heart does not pump blood around your body properly and there is an increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
He said: “It is safe to say that being diagnosed with ARVC was the toughest and scariest week of my life.
“I never would have thought it would happen to me. I was 26 years old and playing cricket for England but my condition meant that I was at risk of sudden death from a cardiac arrest.
“I was lucky as my condition was detected early and, despite having to give up my career, with medication I can lead a relatively normal life.
“But it could have been an incredibly different story.”
Inherited heart conditions can affect people of any age and each child of someone with an inherited heart condition can have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting it. For many families, the first sign there’s a problem is when someone dies suddenly with no obvious cause or explanation.
Each week in the UK around 12 seemingly healthy people aged 35 or under are victims of sudden cardiac death with no explanation, largely due to these devastating conditions.
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “The reality is that there are an estimated 620,000 people in the UK and around 55,000 people in the West Midlands specifically who are unaware that they could be at risk of sudden death. If undetected and untreated, inherited heart conditions, can be deadly and they continue to devastate families, often by taking away loved ones without warning.
“Thanks to the public’s kind support, BHF-funded researchers have discovered some of the genes responsible for these frightening conditions but there is still much to do.
“We urgently need to fund more research to better understand these heart conditions, make more discoveries, develop new treatments and save more lives.”
For more details, go to www.bhf. org.uk/unexpected