Google Alert - long QT syndrome

Google alert is a service which notifies its users about the latest web and news pages of their choice by email. When it was launched a few years ago, I created an alert searching Google news for "long QT syndrome". 

I remember getting a notification every fifth or sixth month only back then.

Nowadays, I get three alerts a week at least. Most of them are about articles of local newspapers in the anglo-saxon world (mostly in the USA) describing a family's or community's struggle with long-QT syndrome. 

Still, a lot of them are concerning medical and scientific discoveries. For instance, I learned this week from Google alert that a 12th genetic mutation has been found (LQT12). This tool is an important way to keep myself informed.

The increased frequency of alerts about long QT syndrome shows two things: The awareness for the disease is higher than - let us say - five years ago. And it is common interest now for the global medical and scientific communities of cardiology, electrophysiology and molecular biology.

Long QT syndrome might be rare, but it is not unknown any more.