Mid-Derbyshire MP Pauline Latham has pledged her support for a campaign aimed at reducing the number of sudden cardiac deaths in young people.
Leading heart charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) called on MPs to make a pledge to support a national strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death (YSCD) to help save young lives. At a packed parliamentary reception last week, Mrs Latham met bereaved families, researchers, charity patrons and MPs from all parties as she signed up to the campaign to put screening in the spotlight.
Mrs Latham said:
“I am pledging to support a national strategy for the Prevention of Young Sudden Cardiac Death to help save the lives of the 12 apparently fit and healthy young people who die every week in the UK of undiagnosed cardiac conditions.”
Dr Steven Cox, CEO of CRY, said:
“We are extremely grateful to Pauline Latham for attending our event during CRY Awareness Week and we hope they will continue to follow our campaign with interest and active engagement.”
In 80 per cent of cases of young sudden cardiac death, there will have been no signs or symptoms, a reason why CRY believes proactive screening is so important.
“This is one of the most common causes of death in young people,” said Dr Cox. “The number of deaths reported to the government appears to be less than one tenth of the true number. This is partly because of the way these are reported. Cardiac arrests are electrical problems, so when a person dies the electricity disappears so there is no evidence”.