LQTS does not technically worsen with age; the concern is repeated episodes. The more arrhythmia episodes you have, where your heart cannot properly pump blood around your body, the more you are at risk of having a life-threatening one or complications from it.

This is why getting diagnosed as early as possible is vital. This will help minimise the likelihood of complications, along with the chances of more episodes. You can then manage the disorder to the best of your abilities (if it is inherited) or treat the underlying factors that have caused it (if it is acquired).

Presently, the data around long QT syndrome and life expectancy is not there to make a clear call on what to expect. But we do know that being diagnosed and seeking appropriate treatment and management of the disorder goes a long way. This is because it reduces the number of episodes you experience (the more you have, the more likely you are to develop a life-threatening arrhythmia). 

Therefore, the best thing you can do to improve your prognosis is to get diagnosed. If you do have an inherited form of the disorder, you can then encourage other family members to seek diagnosis too. Together, you can look after your own health while helping look after each other too.

Unlike some conditions, such as connective tissue disorders, LQTS can be caused by both genetic mutations and other health factors, like medications or vitamin deficiencies.

If you have congenital LQTS, this means you have either inherited the disorder from your parents or you spontaneously developed the relevant genetic mutations as an embryo. For those with the Romano-Ward syndrome variant, it is autosomal dominant. This means that only one part of the gene pair needs to have the relevant mutation for LQTS to occur. Therefore, if one parent has the mutation, there is a 50% chance their child will inherit it. 

Conversely, the Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome variant is autosomal recessive, meaning both parts of the pair must have mutation for the disorder to occur. If there is only one half of the pair with the mutation that person just becomes a carrier for the disorder. So if the parents have the disorder or are carriers there is a 25% chance their child will have the disorder.

Where LQTS is acquired, this can be because of medications, including antidepressants, antifungals and antibiotics. It can also be caused by different health conditions, like low magnesium or strokes. You and your physician may have to go through a few different tests to understand what has caused the disorder, but it can then be treated to ideally reverse the LQTS.