The condition carries a high death rate if left untreated and occurs when the main valve which takes blood from the heart stiffens and narrows.
Experts have estimated that almost 300,000 people in Britain could have a potentially deadly heart valve disease called aortic stenosis – including almost 100,000 who are unaware they have it.
Many people do not know they have the disease and only discover they do when it is too late for treatment.
An international team of scientists, including experts from the Universities of Glasgow and Southampton, set out to research the extent of the disease in the UK.
Their study, published in the journal Open Heart, estimated that in the UK in 2019 there were 291,448 men and women aged 55 and over with severe aortic stenosis.
Of these, an estimated 68 per cent would have symptoms. This means an estimated 92,389 people have the disease and do not know it.
The authors went on to estimate that more than 172,000 (59%) who have the disease will “die within five years without proactive management”.
They concluded that aortic stenosis is a “common condition” in the UK but warned that “without appropriate detection and intervention, survival prospects are likely to be poor”.
An estimated 20,000 new patients could benefit from treatment each year, but the researchers said this figure is “discordant with current capacity within the NHS”.
“These data suggest a high burden of severe aortic stenosis in the UK requiring surgical or transcatheter intervention that challenges the ongoing capacity of the National Health Service to meet the needs of those affected,” they wrote.
Feds Waive Fees For Lost Passports In Marshall Fire After Requests By Hickenlooper, Bennet, Neguse
The office of Colorado U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper announced he, Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and State Rep. Joe Neguse confirmed the U.S. Department of State will waive fees for replacement passports destroyed or damaged in the Marshall Fire. All three lawmakers sent a letter to DOS requesting these fees be waived for survivors of the fire in Boulder County, and it was approved by the federal government the same day of their request.
“Marshall Fire survivors deserve our help,” Hickenlooper said in the press release. “This fee waiver will help replace passports at no cost.”
“As our communities rebuild, I’m grateful that the Department of State will waive fees for replacing passports lost in the Marshall Fire,” Bennet said in the press release. “This will ease some financial burden for victims as they move forward and recover from this disaster.”
“As the Boulder community works to recover and rebuild from the devastating Marshall Fire, we are doing all we can to make their next steps as seamless as possible,” Neguse said in the press release. “This passport fee waiver will ensure folks can replace destroyed documents without paying a cost.”
More information on passport fee waivers for Marshall Fire survivors can be found on the DOS and FEMA websites below:
According to the press release, the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 authorizes the president, through DOS, to waive U.S. passport application fees when passports are lost or destroyed in a major disaster, such as the Marshall Fire.
