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One Man's quest to achieve something worthwhile by doing something faintly ridiculous... |
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Raising money and
awareness for:
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| CRY | |
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Registered
Charity No. 1050845
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The Charity
My chosen charity is CRY, or Cardiac Risk in the Young.
You can visit their website and find out out more about what they do, here. (Site will open in a new window.)
To make a donation, please go to the Sponsor Me page, where there are various options on how to do so.
Here are some of the basics...
Every week 8 'apparently' fit and healthy young people die in the UK from undiagnosed heart conditions.
CRY is a charity founded in May 1995 to raise awareness of Cardiac Risk in the Young - Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD), Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS, SADS)
Sudden Death Syndrome
Sudden Death Syndrome is an umbrella term used for the many different causes of cardiac arrest in young people.
CRY provides medical infromation on the most common causes of unexpected cardia death in the young (under 35), including:
Cardiomyopathies, Myocarditis, Coronary Artery Disease, Ion Channelopathies (Long QT and Brugada Syndromes), Wolff (Wolfe) Parkinson White Syndrome, Coronary Artery Anomalies, Marfan Syndrome, Endocardial Fibroelastosis and Tachycardia.
These conditions include thickening or abnormal structure of the heart muscle and irregularities of the electrical impulses that upset the natural rhythm of the heart.
It is often difficult to consider that someone who is apparently young and fit may be at risk. There have been a number of reported incidents of misdiagnosis culminating in a tragedy that could have been avoided.
Sporty youngsters stress their heart the most. If they have an underlying cardiac abnormality they are more likely to be at risk. Sport itself does not lead to cardiac arrest but it can act as a trigger for a young person to die suddenly by exacerbating an undetected condition.
The majority of young sudden deaths are due to inherited forms of heart muscle disorder and irregular heart beat. Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy is the most common of these conditions. Research in the USA by Dr. Barry Maron shows that 1 in 500 people have Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy alone- just one of the conditions CRY covers.
In the UK unexplained "sudden death" is frequently recorded as due to natural causes. Experts believe that most of these deaths are due to Sudden Death Syndrome. Until the law is changed and coroners have to refer hearts on to specialists we will not know the true figures.
CRY provides a counselling service for bereaved families.
CRY's Campaign
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Support CRY's national screening programme
- Raise awareness of Cardiac Risk in the Young
- Support medical research into Young Sudden Cardiac death
- Donate medical equipment to doctors' surgeries and hospital units
- Counsel and support families affected
- Fund the CRY Centre for Sports Cardiology at the British Olympic Medical Centre
To find out more, visit CRY's website here. (Page will open in new window.)
This site created by CeeGee web design. All content © Chris Gordon 2006-7
