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A
matter of life and near death
Inside
Out, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ ONE North East, Monday 23 June, 7.30pm
Drama
teacher Shelley Wilson has literally come back from the dead.
She
suffers from a rare condition which causes her heart to stop beating
for almost a minute. It eventually restarts and Shelley regains
consciousness, but the consequences of this disorder are frightening.
Her
only warning is an onset of nausea, followed by a rattle in her
ears and a loss of sight which causes her to collapse.
She
describes these frightening fits on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ ONE's Inside Out as near-death
experiences that have severely restricted how she lives her life.
Shelley
has now been cured of this life-threatening disorder as a result
of a pioneering clinic that has been set up in the UK by the Royal
Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the University of
Newcastle medical school.
Shelley,
aged 25, from Workington, Cumbria, says: "I have had blackouts
on an aeroplane because of the air pressure change, but luckily
there was a Dutch nurse sitting next to me so she rescued me.
"It's
just the thought of never being able to control what's going to
happen to you. It's very scary.
"You
would feel like you have an out-of-body experience. For example,
one moment I would be in the living room, perhaps dancing or doing
something, and the next moment I would be almost in a totally different
place.
"I
would be in the real world, then go into a world of my own and then
be sucked out again.
"When
people talk about near death experiences, they say they have felt
like going somewhere else and that's how I felt every time."
Her
fits left her disorientated for days afterwards, but a cure for
this life-threatening condition, known as Vasovagal Syncope, is
cheap and simple, although the diagnosis is very difficult.
The
disorder is a malfunction in the way blood is supplied to the body,
which in turn stops the heart. The problem is overcome by fitting
a pacemaker.
People
going to hospital for investigations can be admitted for up to 17
days, leaving doctors baffled and tying up valuable hospital beds
and staff time.
Unexplained
falls are the commonest single reason for older persons to attend
the accident and emergency department or be admitted to a nursing
home.
Shelley
was treated at the Royal Victoria Infirmary by Professor Rose Anne
Kenny.
Professor
Kenny, of the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne medical school,
says: "The importance of medical assessment cannot be overemphasized.
Two-thirds of recurrent falls are due to medications or heart rate
or blood pressure abnormalities – all of which can be successfully
treated."
She
says many services set up around the UK by primary care trusts exclude
medical assessment by a doctor because it's too expensive. But without
an appropriate medical assessment, it is often very difficult to
diagnose these falls, claims Professor Kenny.
And
this is something that Shelley herself would testify. Shelley says:
"As a child I tried to find a solution to this. I met lots
of doctors, my mum was a nurse and she had taken me to lots of places,
but no-one knew what it was.
"I
sometimes got this feeling it was all in my head, but I knew it
wasn't and I just needed someone to tell me and sort me out and
that's what Professor Kenny did for me. She really helped me and
really changed my life."
In
Professor Kenny's out-patient clinic, which has been specifically
designed to assess unexplained blackouts, the tests involve shifting
a person's body weight on a tilting bed to induce unconsciousness.
"There's
certainly a cost saving, but for me the most important thing is
it allows you to treat people quickly and that makes a big difference
to all age groups, but particularly older persons who are having
unexplained episodes," says Professor Kenny.
"Rather
than coming back and forth to hospital for more investigations,
we can give a diagnosis which is accurate, quick and without all
that unnecessary cost to their quality of life."
Professor
Kenny says the out-patient clinic has actually saved money and offers
a better quality of service.
Shelley
adds: "It's been brilliant. It's made such an impact in my
life. There's no fear of seizures and that to me was awful, having
that constantly at the back of your mind."
Now,
when the symptoms of a seizure begin, the pacemaker will take over
and the effects will last no more than five minutes – a huge
difference to the five days of illness she would suffer in the past.
She
is now learning to drive for the first time, having passed a medical
examination to secure her provisional licence.
She
says: "Driving is fantastic. I have wanted to learn for ages
and it's brilliant to be a bit more independent."
Notes
to Editors
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳
ONE's Inside Out must be credited if any of this story is published.
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