HaveAHeart2006

Facts taken from: http://www.stars.org.uk/aaaw/ who kindly gave permission

• Cardiac arrhythmia is the No. 1 killer, more so than lung, breast cancer and AIDS combined.
• Approximately 90.000 people die each year from an arrhythmia related condition – that’s 1 in every 650 people
• Finding out about arrhythmias early could improve a patient's chance of finding a successful treatment and save lives.
• Cardiac arrhythmias account for 40% of unexplained falls or blackouts.
• Cardiac Arrhythmias affects more than 1 million people in the United Kingdom and is consistently in the top ten reasons for hospital admission. That's a minimum of about 1 of every 85 members of the British population, from infants to the elderly, with a heart that occasionally or consistently beats too quickly, too slowly, abnormally or irregularly.
• At least 90,000 people die every year from sudden cardiac arrest resulting from a lethally fast heart rhythm.
• 120,000 individuals are mis-diagnosed with epilepsy when the majority are in fact suffering with a cardiac arrhythmia, many of which could be treated.
• Cardiac arrhythmias vary widely in type and severity, as do methods for their diagnosis and treatment. Once diagnosed, however, they can usually be treated effectively with drugs, devices or surgery - or a combination of these.