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Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on January 23, 2023 in a post: Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome and “stroke season” didn’t exist before the COVID-19 pandemic. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") * Facebook Fact-checks * Coronavirus * Instagram posts ![\\"Ciara](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke January 24, 2023 # Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, seasonal stroke risk concerns long predate the COVID-19 pandemic #### If Your Time is short * Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome and seasonal stroke risk concerns have been reported and studied for decades. They long predate the COVID-19 pandemic. See the sources for this fact-check The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an era of significant change, medical and social, for people worldwide. But not everything is new — despite what some social media posts claims. \"None of these things existed before the plandemic started,\" reads the text in a video in which a woman claims fact-checkers and sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, or SADS, are new since the pandemic started in 2020. (\"Plandemic\" is the title of a video that made many false claims about COVID-19 and spread widely online.) She also suggests, without evidence, that COVID-19 vaccines cause the syndrome. \"Oh and their new claims that ‘stroke season’ is an actual thing that happens after the flu season is complete b-------- too,\" the Instagram post’s caption says. This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.) Fact-checkers are not new as of the pandemic. PolitiFact started in 2007 and won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009. FactCheck.org debuted in 2003. And sudden arrhythmic death syndrome and \"stroke season\" weren’t new in 2020. The British Heart Foundation describes sudden arrhythmic death syndrome as sudden, unexpected death from a cardiac arrest in which the cause is unknown. It usually happens when an abnormal heart rhythm goes untreated, the foundation says. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" ![](\\" Jeffrey Barke stated on August 23, 2024 in an Instagram post Food and Drug Administration approval for updated COVID-19 vaccines requires a public health emergency declaration. ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Jeff Cercone • August 27, 2024 The syndrome has been studied for decades, and research about it has appeared in journals including Frontiers in Physiology in 2013 and Heart in 2007. In 1988, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on cases of \"sudden unexplained death syndrome\" among southeast Asian refugees. The SADS Foundation in the United States, based in Salt Lake City, was established in 1991 — nearly 30 years before the COVID-19 pandemic started. Warning signs of the syndrome include a family history of unexpected, unexplained death before age 40, fainting or seizure during exercise or excitement, and consistent or unusual chest pain or shortness of breath during exercise. The SADS Foundation has encouraged patients to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The so-called stroke season has also been around for decades. In 1986, the Los Angeles Times published a headline that said, \"Study identifies February- April as stroke season.\" The story reported that researchers had found that strokes caused by arteries blocked by blood clots or fat occurred most often in those months.. More recently, the American Heart Association warned in October 2020 — before the first COVID-19 vaccines were available — that influenza and COVID-19 can increase the risk of stroke, noting it \"has long recommended the flu vaccine to protect against cardiovascular disease complications.\" We rate claims that sudden unexplained death syndrome and stroke season are new as of the COVID-19 pandemic False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Instagram post, Jan. 23, 2023 American Heart Association, Flu and COVID-19 are bad enough, but they also can raise stroke risk, Oct. 14, 2020 AHA Journals, Higher Stroke Incidence in the Spring Season Regardless of Conventional Risk Factors, Takashima Stroke Registry, Japan, 1988 –2001 Los Angeles Times, Study Identifies February-April as Stroke Season, Oct. 8, 1986 SADS Foundation, COVID-19 Vaccine Statement for People with SADS Conditions, May 12, 2021 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Update: Sudden Unexplained Death Syndrome Among Southeast Asian Refugees -- United States, Sept. 23, 1998 SADS Foundation, SADS Conditions, visited Jan. 24, 2023 Heart, Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, 2007 Frontiers in Physiology, The investigation of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS)—the current approach to family screening and the future role of genomics and stem cell technology, 2013 British Heart Foundation, Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, visited Jan. 24, 2023 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Ciara O\'Rourke slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 8, 2024 in a Threads post: “Elon Musk is going to expose Bill Gates soon, says ‘he’s evil.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 12, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 6, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Gordon Ramsay calls Tim Walz a ‘woke creep,’ throws him out of Hell’s Kitchen.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 12, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 7, 2024 in a Threads post: Photo shows Elton John wearing a “MAGA” jacket. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 12, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 17, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Chiefs\' Coach Andy Reid criticizes Taylor Swift: ‘You’re not a good role model.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 17, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Kansas City Chiefs CEO bans Taylor Swift from attending games, calling her the team’s ‘biggest distraction.’” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 13, 2024 in a Facebook post: Says Colin Kaepernick said he “will go to Russia if not properly respected in the United States.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 17, 2024 in a Threads post: Image shows “P Diddy with Kamala Harris.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 20, 2024 ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on September 16, 2024 in an Instagram post: Taylor Swift “lost 17 million followers by endorsing Kamala.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 19, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 16, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Country Music Television (CMT) has announced a permanent boycott of Taylor Swift.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 11, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Disney World officially moving to Nashville.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on September 16, 2024 in Threads post: Images show Sean Combs’ booking photos after Sept. 16 arrest. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on September 16, 2024 in a Threads post: “Donald Trump posted this photo of Taylor Swift saying that she was crying because she lost over $150 million worth of merchandise.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • September 18, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on September 13, 2024 in an Instagram post: Says Rep. 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Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome and stroke season didn’t exist before the COVID19 pandemic