Long QT Syndrome For those who suffer from it, Long QT Syndrome is a time bomb in their chest. It is increasingly common - but most doctors seem unaware of its existence and it often strikes without warning, killing young people in the full bloom of youth.  Imagine, if you can, the first warning you may get is when your young child collapses at primary school during some sporting pursuit.   It is incomprehensible that someone so young and active can be afflicted with this debilitating heart disease but that is the way Long QT Syndrome strikes. It is thought that up to 360 lives are lost each year in Australia due to the Long QT Syndrome. In America up to 4,000 people may die annually.   Unfortunately many sudden deaths may be undiagnosed sufferers of Long QT Syndrome.  The syndrome gets its name from the distinctive 'signature' or shape of the wave - an unusually long interval between the 'Q' and 'T' wave points - shown on an electrocardiogram or heart monitor. This shows how long it takes for the heart to return to 'normal' after contracting and pumping blood through the body. Physical exercise, emotional shock or surprise - even an alarm clock going off - may trigger a fast, irregular and lethal heartbeat.   When this happens, no blood is pumped out from the heart and the brain is deprived of blood causing sudden loss of consciousness and death.   Symptoms are easily misdiagnosed, especially by doctors who may not even be ready to consider it.    It is mostly an inherited condition - several members of a family will often be found to carry Long QT.   © Lorem Ipsum Dolor 2010 Made with Xara The HeartStart Foundation ABN 30 284 021 508 Donations (tax deductible) can be made to: Rotary Club of Williamstown, PO Box 111, Williamstown 3016, Victoria, Australia The HeartStart Foundation A project of the Rotary Club of Williamstown