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 A
rare but devastating condition has
been highlighted in a parliamentary debate initiated by a New Forest MP.
Dr
Julian Lewis, who represents New Forest East, is spearheading a campaign for
health screening to identify people most at risk from sudden death syndrome,
which kills at least four young people in the UK every week. He
sited the case of one of his constituents - Sarah Woodhead of Hythe, who died
suddenly in 1997 at the age of 28. 'Sarah,
a non-smoker who had never been ill, suffered a massive heart seizure and died
as a result of this condition,' said Dr Lewis. The
MP said two groups are particularly at risk - those who have a family history of
death at a young age, and where young people are engaged in serious sport. Some
ten years ago, a charitable group, Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) was set up by
Alison Cox, the wife of former British number one tennis player Mark,
after their son Steven's fortuitous screening and discovery of the condition
while he was a college in America. Steven
decided to give up a professional tennis career that may have proved fatal and
is alive and well aged 27. Health
Minister Yvette Cooper identified a number of critical questions which needed to
be examined when deciding whether a screening programme was a good idea. She
promised to look at the whole issue and said she would be asking the national
screening committee for an update on new treatment possibilities. She
also revealed that Health Department officials would be meeting CRY later in the
summer and hoped they would be able to discuss the priorities that should be
taken into consideration when awarding funding. Sarah
Woodhead's widower Adrian, a police officer, is supporting Dr Lewis's campaign. 'Sarah
had a family history of this condition,' he said. 'We want to raise awareness of
it and try to get something done. Dr
Lewis said: 'More than half of the 200-plus young people who die so tragically
every year could be saved by medical intervention and change of lifestyle,
particularly because so many of those who die are very active.' 'They
are particularly likely to be engaged in serious and energetic sport, and
sometimes they are engaged in professional sport.' With permission from the
New Forest Post
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