Saga Magazine – letters, March 2002
Your moving article Curse of the Rogue Gene was a reminder of the dreadful tragedy my family suffered. My eldest daughter, aged 27, a nurse, died four years ago very suddenly in her sleep for no apparent reason.
A post-mortem examination could discover no cause of death and the coroner at the inquest returned an Open Verdict with the cause of death as “Unascertainable”.
The pathologist suggested that my daughter may have had a heart disorder. My husband and I contacted the organisation called Cardiac Risk in the Young for information on Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.
After undergoing extensive cardiac screening my husband was diagnosed as having long QT syndrome, with a genetic abnormality in one of the genes for the syndrome. I would strongly urge any family suffering a similar tragedy to undergo screening as one tablet a day can save a life.
Unfortunately my surviving daughter has not consented to screening for herself and her two small children. I just hope that history will not repeat itself in my family.
Cardiac Risk in the Young is a charitable organisation whose aim is to support and counsel families affected by similar sudden deaths.
