Why ignoring fainting could be fatal: That ‘funny turn’ could be a warning you have a life-threatening heart condition

‘Her face was like a waxwork dummy, there were dark shadows under her eyes, her lips were blue and she was so perfectly still, I thought she was dead,’ recalls Julie.

‘I panicked and rushed to my neighbour’s house with her, but by the ‘Later, as we drove to A & E in an ambulance, I felt relieved Naomi was still alive, but was dreading the diagnosis.’time I got there, she had come round.

That’s because she, too, suffered from blackouts. These had had a significant impact on her life and health – not least because the strong drugs she was prescribed didn’t work, causing debilitating side effects. Julie feared her daughter would face the same fate.

But like many thousands of others who suffer blackouts, Julie didn’t realise her condition was entirely treatable. More importantly, the right kind of treatment was vital – it could save her life.

Every year more than 200,000 people are hospitalised after suffering a sudden blackout and fall. Usually it’s assumed they’ve fallen because they’re old and frail. Others end up being diagnosed with epilepsy.

But often the real cause is actually an arrhythmia – where the heart beats either too slow or too fast.

This causes a lack of blood flow to the brain and temporary loss of consciousness, known as a syncope.

It is a deeply worrying problem, as an untreated arrhythmia, while also extremely debilitating, can lead to sudden cardiac death.

There are 100,000 sudden cardiac deaths in Britain each year and experts estimate 80 per cent could be prevented with the right treatment.