Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

The most common cause of unexpected, sudden death is the sudden stoppage of the heart. In the majority of cases, the heart stops pumping when it goes into a dangerous rhythm. The most likely cause of this dangerous rhythm is a blockage in the tubes that carry blood to the heart itself. We want to understand why certain people's hearts suddenly stop functioning, in order to see what can be done to prevent these events from happening in the first place. We know that medical problems like having high blood pressure or high blood sugar can cause blockages in the heart and we also know that these problems tend to run in families. This means, for example, that if your mother or father or brother or sister has high blood pressure, you might too. We also know that your home environment can affect your chances of having heart blockages and dying suddenly. If, for example, you are overweight or smoke you are also likely to have heart blockages down the road. We think that many family members do not know that they may be in danger of dying suddenly themselves and also why their relative died "out of the blue". We are conducting this research study in order to look at and better understand the medical or environmental causes (risk factors) that are associated with the sudden stopping of the heart (cardiac arrest). In addition, nobody has looked to see if family members of people who die suddenly get any information about why their family member died, or if they know they may be in danger of dying suddenly themselves. This lack of information could make the grieving process very hard for some people and they may suffer for no real reason. We think that by talking to these family members, we will help them to feel better about their loved one's death and will also prevent them from suffering the same fate.