2026-06-03 10:06:07
A woman whose heart stop beating whenever she swallowed can finally “live without fear” after an innovative treatment.
Sarah Castle was diagnosed with an ultra-rare condition which left her scared that every meal would be her last, while eating and drinking would lead to blackouts and dizziness.
Speaking to the Mirror, she said: “This condition I had affected everything – my job, my independence, and my home life.
“During family meals, my husband would have to sit next to me in case I lost consciousness, and my children would be wondering if I would make it through to the end without blacking out.
“What should have been normal family time became stressful and frightening. I had to stop driving and I was signed off work for several months.
“It was one of the hardest times in my life. I started to have these scary thoughts that my heart might just stop when I was eating and never restart. But now I can live without fear.”
The mother-of-two started having fainting episodes and sickness aged 39, and years later she noticed dizziness whenever she was wearing.
With nine years, she was regularly losing consciousness during eating.
Now 50, she was diagnosed with cardioinhibitory swallow syncope, which has fewer than 150 reported cases around the world.
During testing with a heart monitor, it was found that her heart paused 12 times in a 24 hour period.
The condition means swallowing triggers an overreaction in the vagus nerve, which makes the heart either dramatically slow down or temporarily stop.
For Sarah, this meant her heart could pause for up to a minute.
Conventional treatment didn’t work, and she ended up securing a medical trial which was testing an innovative procedure called cardioneural ablation (CNA).
The treatment, which is backed by the British Heart Foundation and the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, targets the nerves in question, with catheters inserted through the groin into the heart.
They are able to map nerve activity, and use heat to destroy the cells.
Sarah is delighted with the way her life has changed since the treatment, as she added: “I can drive, I can work – it feels like everything has come full-circle.
“Thanks to the researchers and amazing doctors, my life is truly back to normal.”
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