ARRHYTHMIA AWARENESS WEEK
- Session: 2008-09
- Date tabled: 09.06.2009
- Primary sponsor:
- Sponsors:
That this House congratulates Arrhythmia Alliance, the Heart Rhythm Charity, a coalition of healthcare professionals, patients and carers to promote better understanding, diagnosis, treatment and quality of life of individuals with cardiac arrhythmias, or heart rhythm disorders, for organising Arrhythmia Awareness Week from 8 to 14 June 2009; welcomes the Know Your Pulse initiative which aims to encourage people to have their pulse checked; notes that more than one per cent. of the population is affected by atrial flutter (AF), the most common type of heart rhythm disturbance; recognises that people with AF have a dramatically reduced quality of life and face long-term serious complications including a high risk of having a stroke; further notes that 100,000 sudden cardiac deaths occur each year due to cardiac arrhythmias, and that 120,000 unexplained incidences of loss of consciousness occur due to cardiac arrhythmia; believes that the early identification of heart rhythm disorders is crucial in reducing the number of premature deaths from heartbeat disorders; and calls on the Government to make heart rhythm disorders a priority by ensuring pulse checks are taken during a routine visit to a GP surgery, to promote timely diagnosis and treatment of heart rhythm disorders.