Displaying items by tag: Congenital Heart Problems
Colombia: millions of displaced people long for peace
Consuelo Manyoma, a resident of San Isidro, waits anxiously for the time when her family can safely return home. Located along a strategic corridor for the cocaine trade, the village frequently experiences gunfire and threats. Two years ago, Manyoma's family and others fled, seeking refuge in Buenaventura. They are now in makeshift accommodation in a huge basketball stadium, enduring uncertainty and longing for peace. The country’s conflict, a bloody war between paramilitary groups, rebel militias, drug traffickers, and the army, has displaced 6.8 million people - one of the world's largest internally displaced populations. In another development, former president Alvaro Uribe is to face criminal charges for alleged links to some of the paramilitary groups: see
Faulty gene might cause death
An estimated 620,000 people in the UK have a faulty gene that puts them at risk of developing coronary heart disease or sudden death, and most are unaware, a charity has warned. The British Heart Foundation said the figure was 100,000 more than had been thought and could be even higher. It said there was now a better grasp of the prevalence of inherited conditions. A child of someone with an inherited heart condition can have a 50% chance of inheriting it themselves. Each week in the UK, around twelve seemingly healthy people aged 35 or under are victims of sudden cardiac death with no explanation, largely due to undiagnosed heart conditions. Former England and Nottinghamshire cricketer James Taylor had to retire last year, at the age of 26, after he was diagnosed with the serious heart condition arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.