Heart condition patients battle to bring new drug to the NHS

But when the symptoms got worse, until he could hardly walk, he was diagnosed with a heart condition which is like a time bomb waiting to go off. Martin was just 34.

"I felt like my life had been taken away from me. I know that sounds dramatic, but at the time that is how it felt. Going from doing what you want, taking it for granted, to then not being able to do anything, is tough to come to terms with," explains Martin.

"I went through so many emotions, anger and frustration, looking for someone to blame, wondering why this happened to me."

Martin suffers from Atrial Fibrillation (AF), which means his heart beats erratically and often abnormally fast.

"At one stage I could literally see my heart beating out of my chest."

Martin was put on medication but he continued to feel the effects of AF.

"For three months I felt terrible. I had been really active, playing football and going to the gym – suddenly I had no energy. I couldn't walk for more than 10 minutes. I became very depressed and couldn't work.

"There was a real lack of information. I didn't know if I should try to go back to work. I really struggled to deal with it mentally and emotionally."

Doctors tried different drugs to try to get Martin's heart to beat properly again, in the end they tried one last drug, a highly toxic treatment with nasty side effects, which eventually restored his normal heart rhythm.

Once his heart was beating properly, he could start to rehabilitate himself.

"I had lost a lot of weight," say Martin. "They had to take me off the drug straight away as it was so toxic."

He still gets attacks of AF a couple of times a week, but is learning to live with it.

Now 37, Martin tries not to worry about the future. Sufferers of AF are often at higher risk of stroke.

"I will never be cured of AF and I know it could strike again at any time and is more likely to as I get older, but I try to live a healthy lifestyle and learn to cope with the AF when it happens. But I am quite lucky. There are people with AF whose quality of life is affected all the time."

Martin is one of 40,000 people with AF who could benefit from a new drug.

Dronedarone (Multaq) is the first new anti-arrhythmic medication in more than 20 years. According to the Atrial Fibrillation Association it has been demonstrated in large-scale trials to improve long-term cardiac health in AF patients.

However, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently issued draft guidance which proposes to deny the use of dronedarone to patients in England and Wales.

Since the announcement of the draft guidance, more than 180 healthcare professionals have signed an open letter to NICE calling for the committee to consider further evidence and for experts be called

to a review meeting to

be held by NICE next Wednesday.

Trudie Lobban, founder and chief executive of AFA, said: "If dronedarone is not approved, it will have a detrimental effect on the lives of thousands of people who could be helped to live a safer, healthier and active life. Dronedarone is the first anti-arrhythmic medication (AAD) to not only reduce occurrence of AF episodes, but also have fewer side effects, which can be as debilitating as AF itself.

"It is also the only AAD to show a reduction in hospitalisation, other cardiac events and stroke – better for the patient, their family and the NHS."

About 25 MPs and peers also signed an EDM and/or sent a personal letter to NICE voicing their concerns

In Europe and the US, the drug has recently been given full approval.

Martin adds: "I realise that the NHS is not a bottomless pit, but this drug costs 2 a day. "Compared to the cost of looking after someone who has had a stroke or a heart attack this is nothing."

The NICE draft guidance can be viewed at www.nice.org.uk/guidance/

index.jsp?action=article&o=46768

For more information visit www.atrialfibrillation.org.uk