Tag Archives: heart disease

Impact of pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic has brought this into even sharper focus, having had a significant impact on people with heart disease and on the services that support them. A recent study of severe COVID-19 cases across the UK revealed that the most common comorbidity is chronic heart disease (29%).6 Ischaemic (coronary) heart disease has been the second most common pre-existing condition for COVID-19 fatalities in Scotland, behind dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.7,8 Furthermore, during the initial lockdown period of the pandemic, overall attendance at Accident and Emergency (A&E) decreased,9 and this period coincided with a

The virology of COVID-19 The COVID-19 virus shares the majority of its genome with a previously identified bat coronavirus species RaTG13.3,4 In a fashion similar to the SARS coronavirus from 2002/2003, COVID-19 enters the cell when its ‘spike protein’ interacts with the ACE2 protein in host cells, and allows passage into the cell (see figure 1). Though COVID-19 is, on the whole, most identifiable with the bat coronavirus RaTG13, the spike protein on its own is more akin to that seen in coronavirus species seen in the Malayan pangolin.4 The spike protein in the COVID-19 virus was found to have similar (albeit less) binding affinity for th

European Society of Cardiology congress 2018, held in Munich Professor Jolien Roos-Hesselink, said: “Pregnancy is safe for most women with heart disease but for some it is too risky. Our study shows that fewer women with heart disease die or have heart failure during pregnancy than 10 years ago. However, nearly one in 10 women with pulmonary arterial hypertension died during pregnancy or early post-partum.” She added that pre-pregnancy counselling is crucial to identify women who should be advised against pregnancy, for instance in those with severe valvular heart disease, and to discuss the risks, options and to initiate timely treatment

Heart failure currently affects one in 1,000 people, and is rising by at least 10% each year. When combined with other heart diseases, the annual cost to the NHS of supporting these patients is £625 million. For further information and to view a copy of the Focus on heart failure document visit www.institute.nhs.uk/heartfailure

Introduction Echocardiography plays a major role in the investigation of heart disease.1 The British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) Education Committee published a minimum dataset for performing a standard adult transthoracic echocardiogram in 2005. The intended benefits of these recommendations are to “support cardiologists and echocardiographers to develop local protocols and quality control programs for adult transthoracic study; promote quality by defining a ‘minimum dataset’ of descriptive terms and measurements and systematic approach to constructing a report; facilitate the accurate comparison of serial echocardiograms perform

Speaking to health professionals at King’s College, London, the PM said that, over time, everyone in England will have access to the right preventative health check-up. He said the first priority was to offer men over 65 a simple ultrasound test to detect early abdominal aortic aneurysm, which should save more than 1,600 lives each year. The government is also planning to introduce on the NHS a series of tests to identify vulnerability to heart and circulation problems.  “So there will soon be check-ups on offer to monitor for heart disease, strokes, diabetes and kidney disease – conditions which affect the lives of 6.2 million people,

The US authors conclude that their findings “may have potentially broad public-health implications, given the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in developed countries, the contribution of lifestyle and geography to vitamin D status, and the ease, safety and low cost of treating vitamin D deficiency”. In the study, published in Circulation (online January 7th 2008), 1,739 participants, free of cardiovascular disease at baseline, were followed for a median of 5.4 years and 120 individuals developed a first cardiovascular event. After adjustment for conventional cardiovascular risk factors, individuals with 25-OH D levels below 15 ng/

In the study, those who neither drank alcohol nor exercised had a 30–49% higher risk of heart disease than those who either drink, exercise or both. The data come from the Copenhagen City Heart Study which followed 11,914 Danish men and women for approximately 20 years. The researchers conclude that: “Both moderate to high levels of physical activity and a moderate alcohol intake are important for lowering the risk of fatal heart disease and deaths from all causes”.

Editors: Falk E, Shah PK, De Feyter PJ Publisher: Manson Publishing, 2007 (www.mansonpublishing.com) ISBN: 978-1-84076-052-1 Price: £85 The subject of ischaemic heart disease is very extensive and the authors set out to cover epidemiology, pathogenesis, investigations, diagnosis, treatment and prevention in a succinct and easily understandable manner. Topics are logically reviewed with all areas discussed in reasonable detail. This gives the reader the opportunity to gain understanding and an up-to-date knowledge of the subject. The illustrations and clinical images are of a high quality supplementing the various topics well, helping read

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