The number of adults who collapse and die suddenly without medical explanation could be much greater...
The number of adults who collapse and die suddenly without medical explanation could be much greater than official statistics suggest. Researchers at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found that in just over 4% of sudden deaths in 'previously healthy' adults under the age of 65, no cause can be found. As there is no nationally recognised name or category that can be used for such unexplained deaths when they are certified, the exact number of victims is unknown.
The new findings have emerged from a survey carried out among 67 coroners in England in the early 1990s, which studied sudden deaths of people aged between 16 and 64.
Lead researcher, Dr Tim Bowker, said: 'Our findings suggest to us that these deaths should be classed as the adult equivalent of the sudden infant death syndrome. If the condition is more frequent than we suspect we need to give the condition a name to help us gain a greater understanding of the scale of the problem.'
Medical director at the BHF, Professor Sir Charles George, said people should research whether any unexplained deaths have occurred in their family. 'We hope our new findings will encourage people to look back into their family's medical history and think about whether any close relatives may have died young of unexplained causes.'
