What a complete shock.
Two years ago, a 20-year-old student at the University of Cambridge collapsed and died without any warning signs while hiking in southern France — and now her family is doing everything possible to prevent others from experiencing this same type of unexpected tragedy.
Clarissa Nicholls had arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy, or ACM, a rare heart condition that occurs when the heart muscle is replaced by both scar and fat. ACM caused the student’s heart to go into cardiac arrest.
Nicholls was described by her mother to the Times as a “supremely active, one of the fittest and healthiest and energetic girls you would have ever met,” so her passing was a complete shock to anyone who knew her.
The scary part is that she didn’t have any symptoms and with routine screenings, there’s a possibility this could’ve been prevented.
It’s believed that these types of heart conditions often go undiagnosed and can be made worse by strenuous exercise.
Following the 20-year-old’s passing, the Nicholls family and friends, Izzy Winter and Jess Reeve set up a campaign to prevent this from happening to others, especially young people, since one in every 250 people is affected by this little-known condition.
Over £100,000 (over $133,000) was raised for Clarissa’s Campaign, which allows young students at Cambridge to get routine heart screenings, which are provided by the charity CRY — Cardiac Risk in the Young.
Thanks to the campaign, over 400 students have been screened so far, with 42 having to go for further testing.
“Cambridge has been brilliant in supporting this and I believe there is the will to keep the momentum going,” Nicholls’ mother said in a recent press release.
As alarming and unfortunate as Nicholls’ story is, research shows that by age 17, most people’s heart health scores start to decline.
“I frequently care for people in their early 20s who are entering adulthood and are already facing serious cardiovascular risk factors such as elevated blood pressure, high blood sugar or a body mass index in the obesity range,” Dr. Jewel Scott, a primary care nurse practitioner, wrote in The Conversation.
And something many don’t realize is that heart health can easily decline during one’s childhood.
“Most children are born healthy, but unfortunately much of the benefit of heart health is lost during childhood, and currently less than 5% of US children enjoy ideal cardiovascular health,” Dr. David Jacobs, a professor of public health at the University of Minnesota, said in a statement.
Lifestyle choices like lack of exercise, using cigarettes, vapes or other nicotine products, diet and excessive drinking all contribute to poor heart health, especially in young people.
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