The sudden death gene: Calls to screen for silent killer as 620,000 face increased heart risk
- Experts warn that thousands of people have a gene which puts them at risk
- The number of British people with the inherited condition is now at 620,000
- The genetic disorders can go undetected until someone's heart stops beating
In 2012, Premier League footballer Fabrice Muamba (pictured) , then 23, collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane
Hundreds of thousands of people are living with a faulty gene that puts them at risk of sudden death, experts warn.
New estimates put the number in Britain living with an inherited heart condition at 620,000 – yet the vast majority have no idea of the threat to their health.
The genetic disorders can go undetected until someone's heart suddenly stops beating. Last night the British Heart Foundation called for better screening to spot those with the defect, warning of huge variations across the country in the current system.
As recently as 2009, experts believed no more than 380,000 people in the UK suffered from these inherited cardiovascular conditions.
This estimate was then upped to 520,000, and last night was increased again to 620,000 thanks to up-to-date research on the genes involved. At least 624 people aged under 35 are thought to die each year from sudden cardiac death but many more deaths may be mistakenly put down to other causes.
In 2012, Premier League footballer Fabrice Muamba, then 23, collapsed on the pitch. His heart stopped for 78 minutes. He recovered and was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, one of a list of heart conditions caused by genetic factors.
Some of these inherited defects give people a weak heart muscle, so blood is not pumped properly around the body, while others cause an abnormal heart rhythm, which means the heart could suddenly stop beating.
Other forms mean patients have abnormally high levels of cholesterol, increasingly their risk of dying from a heart attack by 100-fold. Last April, England cricketer James Taylor was forced to retire at the age of 26 due to a rare form of arrhythmia.
Miles Frost (pictured), eldest son of broadcaster Sir David Frost, collapsed and died aged 31 in 2015
And Miles Frost, eldest son of broadcaster Sir David Frost, collapsed and died aged 31 in 2015. It was discovered he had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy but had not been told that his father, who had died from a heart attack two years previously aged 74, had the condition. Children have a 50 per cent chance of inheriting the faulty gene from a parent who has it.
The British Heart Foundation is calling for systematic screening across a patient's family tree as soon as they are diagnosed. Some parts of the country – such as the health service in Oxford – will track down family members and offer them testing.
But most areas of the UK are not nearly as thorough. Such defects can affect people of any age, with most cases of sudden cardiac death occurring before 35. Yet if they are spotted, effective treatments are available, such aa a pacemaker to control an abnormal heartbeat or an implantable defibrillator to restart the heart. Drugs such as statins can also be used.
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: 'If someone in your family has been diagnosed with or has died from what is suspected to be an inherited heart condition, you should speak to your GP or call our genetic information service for more information and support.
'The reality is that there are hundreds of thousands of people across the UK who are unaware that they could be at risk of sudden death.
'If undetected and untreated, inherited heart conditions can be deadly and they continue to devastate families, often by taking away loved ones without warning. We urgently need to fund more research to better understand these heart conditions, make more discoveries, develop new treatments and save more lives.'
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