Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher studies sudden cardiac arrest in First Nations people

"Long QT syndrome is a malfunction of the heart's electrical system that can cause cardiac arrest during periods of high stress or physical activity. Sudden cardiac death is often the outcome - even in young people. The normal incidence of Long QT syndrome is one in 3,000 to one in 5,000 people. However, earlier work by Dr. David Fedida, Associate Head of the Deptartment of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia, and other researchers identified a new genetic mutation among members of a First Nations community in northern British Columbia that pushed the incidence of Long QT Syndrome much, much higher - one in every 250 people"