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Editor’s Note: Samuel Howard of Newsguard says that more adults are not dying each year of SADS. Howard also says it’s called “sudden arrhythmic death syndrome” and not “sudden adult death syndrome.” We’ve updated this article to address these concerns.
It’s called sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, also known as SADS, and it’s an “umbrella term” used to describe unexpected deaths for young people under age 40.
Experts say this is happening to all kinds of people, regardless of very fit and healthy lifestyles. There is no obvious cause of death as some victims appear to be “perfectly healthy.”
Anyone under the age of 40 is encouraged to have their hearts checked. Historically, SADS is not very common, though it is more common than many doctors presumed.
Cardiologist and researcher Dr Elizabeth Paratz said that for family and friends of victims, “SADS is a very hard entity to grasp” because it’s a “diagnosis of nothing.”
“I think even doctors underestimate it,” she continued. “We only see the 10 percent who survive and make it to hospital. We only see the tip of the iceberg ourselves.”
“The best advice would be, if you yourself have had a first-degree relative – a parent, sibling, child – who’s had an unexplained death, it’s extremely recommended you see a cardiologist,” she added.
One of the most known cases is 31-year-old Catherine Keane who died in her sleep while living with two friends in Dublin, Ireland.
“They sent her a text at 11.20am and when she didn’t reply, they checked her room and found she had passed,” her mother Margherita Cummins said.
“Her friend heard a noise in her room at 3.56am and believes now that is when she died,” she continued.
Ms. Cummins said her daughter went to the gym regularly and walked about 10,000 steps every day.
More on this story via Daily Mail:
The US-based SADS Foundation has said that over half of the 4,000 annual SADS deaths of children, teens or young adults have one of the top two warning signs present.
Those signs include a family history of a SADS diagnosis or sudden unexplained death of a family member, and fainting or seizure during exercise, or when excited or startled, reported news.com.au….
Spokesperson for Melbourne’s Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute said: ‘there are approximately 750 cases per year of people aged under 50 in Victoria suddenly having their heart stop (cardiac arrest)’ (pictured, woman suffering from chest pain)
— Advertisement — Melbourne’s Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute is developing the country’s first SADS registry.
‘There are approximately 750 cases per year of people aged under 50 in Victoria suddenly having their heart stop (cardiac arrest),’ a spokesperson said.
‘Of these, approximately 100 young people per year will have no cause found even after extensive investigations such as a full autopsy (SADS phenomenon).’
