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MPs join Eileen in
battle for free screening
Two East Lancashire
MP’s have backed a Private Member’s Bill calling for a change in the
law to help prevent sudden heart deaths in young people.
The measures called for
in the Bill, debated in the Commons yesterday, could prevent deaths from
rare heart conditions, which currently claim the lives of hundreds of
apparently healthy young people every year.
The Bill calls for
effective, automatic screening on the NHS for all high-risk families and
has received backing from Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans and Rossendale and
Darwen MP Janet Anderson.
And their support for the
Bill has been welcomed by Irene Wickers from Darwen, who won a Pride of
East Lancashire Award for her
work in setting up the North West branch of the charity Cardiac Risk in
the Young (CRY).
Irene’s son Neil died
suddenly in 2000 from a heart condition aged 31.
He collapsed at Albion Mill gym, Blackburn after his heart was
weakened by a virus he did not know he had.
Irene, of Cyprus Gardens,
said, “I think it is absolutely brilliant what we have been striving for
since we formed CRY. When we
first got involved everyone seemed to think we were talking silly and that
these sort of deaths did not happen.
“I wrote to Janet
Anderson and other MP’s because we have got to really make a difference.
“In other countries
such as Italy and America, all young people who play sport are screened
and everyone who has a heart problem in their family are screened and that
can only be a good thing. It
seems that nearly every week there is a young person who has died and a
lot of the time sport seems to trigger it”.
 Speaking
at the charity’s parliamentary reception at the House of Commons, Mr
Evans, said “I am very
pleased to have this opportunity to show my support for the important work
funded by CRY. It is vital that we do everything we can to help raise
awareness and support the introduction of new legislation to stop these
terrible tragedies.”
The charity believes
immediate screening of all close family members after a sudden death, is
the only way to identify hereditary faults in the heart and prevent
further losses within the same family.
Reports suggest those
with a family history of sudden death or with ‘warning signs’ such as
blackouts are still not being referred for further tests and are dismissed
as too young to have heart problems.
At present the only
option for people who want a second opinion is to have screenings carried
out privately but this cost up to £350.
In around one in 20 cases
of sudden cardiac deaths, there is no recognised cause, even after post
mortem examination.
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