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A mysterious disease
known as sudden adult death syndrome SADS is claiming the lives of four
people every week, it was revealed last night.
The victims – normally
fit and healthy young men and women – usually die quietly in their
sleep.
Now Britain’s top heart
specialists are urging the Government to begin a screening programme for
SADS, also known as adult cot death syndrome.
Last week A-level student
Joanna Viles, 17, was found dead in her bed by her parents.
In other European
countries compulsory screening for the illness – believed to be caused
by an enlarged heart muscle known as cardiomyopathy – is already in
place. The simple heart
monitoring test, which would cost the NHS £34 per person to carry out,
could help save most of the 10,000 potential sufferers in Britain today.
Last night Professor
William McKenna, head of the cardiomyopathy Research Unit at St George’s
Hospital, London, said: “Many unexplained deaths in young people will
actually be caused by cardiomyopathy.”
“Expert assessment will
uncover the problem, but there are so few resources allocated to this
problem within the Health Service that the expertise will not always be
there.”
“Yet sudden adult cot
death claims the lives of hundreds of youngsters every year.
And if a youngster dies the family dies.”
When a young person is
diagnosed as being “at risk” drugs can be used to reduce the chances
of sudden death. But the condition remains incurable. Playing sport dramatically increases the risk of death
because of the sudden strain put on the defective muscle.
Among those who have been
killed by the disease were Everton football prodigy John Marshall, just
16, and Tottenham Hotspur trainee, Jason Erics, 17.
And student Caroline
Lucas, 21, is believed to be the latest victim.
She was found dead in bed after saying goodnight to her parents
after spending the evening revising for her exams.
They backed appeals for
more research after the inquest into her death at South Shields.
The coroner recorded a verdict of death by natural causes, and said
sudden adult cot death was quite possibly responsible.
Experts estimate that more than 200 young people are dying from the
disease a year – but fear that the figure could easily be much higher.
It is believed that the
condition can be passed down from parent to child.
If one parent has it the child has a 50/50 chance of suffering from
the problem.
Symptoms can remain
hidden, but shortness of breath, pain on exertion and palpitations are
some of the tell-tale signs. Parents
of victims of the disease are also calling for greater screening for adult
cot death.
 Ursula
Buck, whose son David died from sudden adult cot death at the age of 37
said: “Had he been screened David may have been alive today.
He was very fit, he had played rugby for his county, Staffordshire,
he was a keen cyclist and he was always careful what he ate.”
Mrs Bick, 67, and her
husband John, of Tamworth, Staffs, were on a round-the-world trip when
they learned of their son’s death.
“It was a terrible shock”, she said.
“His girlfriend who lived next door, found him dead in bed.
He had died during the night”.
There is so much that is
not known about this illness and it wasn’t until we began to look into
it ourselves that we realised how many
young people are dying from it.
Alexandra Fotheringham,
whose 24-year old graduate daughter, Joanne, also died in her sleep said:
“Had Joanne been screened she may have been able to get treatment and
would be with us today. Her
death was so sudden and so shocking that when the Police arrived at our
home we thought there must have been some mistake.”
Mrs Fotheringham, 44,
from Scotland’s Western Isles said that the day before she died, Joanne
had set off to spend a weekend in Glasgow with her boyfriend Donald.
The next morning she was lying dead beside Donald.
There had been no signs, no noise.
It was terrible.”
A
spokeswoman for the Department of Health said while no decision had been
taken to screen young people for cardiac problems the matter was being
looked into.
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