Emma Cowing: Could my cardiac arrest have been connected to sudden cardiac death?

SINCE MY accident in July, when I collapsed from heatstroke and suffered a cardiac arrest while reporting from the frontline in Afghanistan, I have been champing at the bit to get back to exercising. Regular Scotsman readers may remember I used to write a column called Tantrums and Trainers, documenting my trials and tribulations with a personal trainer, and since then, while I am far from the fittest person in the world, I have come to enjoy a regular workout.

In the immediate aftermath of July's events I was fairly incapacitated. This was partly because the CPR had badly bruised my ribs and sternum, meaning that for the first few weeks I had trouble walking, slept sitting up, and took up residence on the sofa where I wore out every DVD box-set I owned (there are some episodes of The Wire I can practically recite word for word).

But things heal, as they have a habit of doing, and physically I have felt right as rain for some time now. But one thing has deterred me from exercising, and that is my heart. It stopped for four minutes that day, and nobody is entirely sure why. Was it merely the circumstances, or was there something wrong with my heart no one knew about? I didn't know the answer, but working up a sweat in the gym probably wasn't the best way to find out. Which is why my GP, a marvellous man with the patience of a saint, referred me to a cardiologist.

My GP's concern, and indeed mine, was that my cardiac arrest may have been connected to SCD, or sudden cardiac death, an umbrella term for a number of different causes that can cause the heart to suddenly stop in young people. It is what killed the 35-year-old Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, who collapsed and died on the pitch during a football match in December last year, and it claims the lives of eight people under the age of 35 in the UK each week.

When it comes to testing for SCD, Scotland is leading the way. Just last month, a pilot screening programme to test young amateur athletes – more susceptible than most – for conditions that can lead to SCD was launched, meaning that up to 4,000 people a year will now undergo cardiovascular screening. Scotland is only the third country in the world, after Italy and the US, to employ such a scheme. It is a phenomenal step forward and one that will hopefully one day lead to free cardiovascular screening for all young people across Scotland.

My tests came back clear. My heart was, as the cardiologist phrased it, an innocent bystander on the day of my accident. I know I have been lucky. That the tests to identify SCD are more available than ever before, however, is a reassuring development, giving SCD sufferers a fighting chance of beating their condition, and ensuring their hearts continue beating.

Touche Eclat or 400bn bailout for tired eyes

I'M BEGINNING to worry about BBC business editor Robert Peston. The man is clearly knackered and looks like he's been at the Pro Plus. I suppose rushing around attempting to provide insight and analysis on every programme around on the biggest financial collapse for decades must take it out of even the most experienced of BBC business editors, but for goodness sake could someone introduce him to some Touche Eclat and a mirror?

It is a tad terrifying however, to note just how much impact a decision by the US House of Representatives can have on the global economy. Anyone who thinks that the US elections are somehow irrelevant to them because they are not American would do well to look at how fundamentally Europe and Asia have been wounded by a political decision made thousands of miles away that they have no say in. So would someone please tell the US House of Representatives to rethink the 400 billion bailout? If only to give Robert Peston a decent night's sleep.