Reducing unexpected deaths
Every week three young people die unexpectedly from rare heart conditions they didn’t know they had. This is called Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS).
The rhythm of the heart beat is controlled by natural electrical currents in our heart cells. Disruption of this electrical current can cause a disturbance to the heart beat that can lead to SADS.
An inherited heart condition can affect one or several members of the same family. Sadly,some inherited cardiac conditions are often not diagnosed until one person dies suddenly and unexpectedly. |
Our ground-breaking research into SADS
Our scientists have been investigating the electrical and structural problems that lead to SADS, so that we can get better at identifying people at risk and provide treatments to prevent these tragic deaths.
Genetic clues
Professor Bill McKenna and his team were supported by your donations to identify genetic clues that might explain how this condition occurs.
A state of the art Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine we provided helped the team learn more about how these genes might work to control heart function.
Predicting SADS risk
With help from our research funding, researchers at Papworth Hospital have developed a way to predict SADS risk by measuring electrical ‘disorganisation’ in the heart.
By identifying this type of electrical disturbance, the researchers hope to prevent SADS in people suffering from a range of different heart diseases.
Saving lives
In the 1990s research by BHF Professor John Camm demonstrated the benefits of a device called an internal cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) for patients at high risk of ventricular fibrillation.
He pioneered the use of these devices for people at risk of SADS. Patients at high risk can be fitted with an internal cardioverter defibrillator, which helps prevent SADS by giving the heart a kick-start when its rhythm is disrupted.
The future for SADS research
We fund a great many research projects looking at the genes and proteins that control the spread of electrical currents across the heart muscle.
It is thought that disruptions in this control might hold the key to understanding heart rhythm disturbances that cause SADS.
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Every 16.8hrs an Australian child dies of SADS
This website is in memory of those who have passed as a result of SADS or Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome.
It has also been created to increase awareness of Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome and to provide helpful and supportive online community where family members can reach out to others.
Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome is common in people aged 5 - 35 it is an inherited disease which creates an abnormality in the heart, causing it to speed up/slow down to the point where it can no longer pump blood, in some cases, however, the heart will stop completely.
A heart condition such as this is hard to detect as there are very few, sometimes no prior symptoms ; most GP's and health professionals remain unaware of this 'SILENT KILLER'.
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