A HEALTH day in the Colin area has been hailed a success after men were screened for a potentially life-threatening medical condition.
Colin Neighbourhood Partnership together with the Women’s Resource and Development Centre, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, and the Public Health Agency (PHA)have held an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) screening session at Cloona House.
Men aged 65 and over are most at risk of AAAs. The aorta is the main blood vessel that supplies blood to your body. An AAA is a swelling (aneurysm) of the aorta and can be dangerous if it isn’t spotted early on.
Screening is the most effective way to tell if you have an AAA because you are unlikely to have any symptoms or feel any pain. The screening test involves a very quick ultrasound scan which is both painless and reliable. The test means aneurysms can be found early and monitored or treated. This greatly reduces the chance of an aneurysm rupturing (bursting) and causing serious problems.
Over 72,000 men have been screened in the North of Ireland in the past ten years for potentially life-threatening AAAs with over 750 aneurysms detected by screening during that time.
Well-known West Belfast man and former political prisoner Jim McCann has urged other men 65 and over to take up the offer of screening for this devastating medical condition that almost claimed his life.
Jim was hospitalised when the main blood vessel running from his heart through his chest and stomach ruptured.
After days of life-saving surgeries, the 71-year-old now lives without a spleen, colon, or rectum, and has just one operating kidney and “very little stomach”.
“It’s not as if I didn’t know about the test. It was somewhere in my subconscious, but I chose not to go," Jim said.
“A ruptured AAA is devastating in its effect so take the screening test when invited. It only takes ten minutes and could save your life.”
Dr Christine McKee, Public Health Consultant at the Public Health Agency, said that around one-in-every-80 men aged 65 who are screened have an AAA.
“We were delighted to hold a recent screening session in the Colin area. Most people are unaware that they have an AAA as they rarely have symptoms," she said.
"It is important to detect AAAs early because life-threatening complications can occur later. The good news is that if an aneurysm is detected early, it can be monitored and, if necessary, treated. We encourage all those invited to consider attending for screening.”
Umberto Scappaticci, Community Development Officer, Colin Neighbourhood Partnership, commented: “It’s great to see a screening session held within a community setting and to have these vital services accessible to people in the local area.”
Men over 65 who have not been screened before can phone the screening office and request a screening appointment on 028 9615 1212.
For further information about AAAs visit the NI Direct website.
