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Dr Diana Holdright
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Would you recognise your own heart attack?
We’ve all seen the dramatic moment that a beloved television character clutches their chest in agony and collapses to the ground with a heart attack. Some say that the best drama is based on fact, and a number of heart attack survivors describe just that – a crushing pain in the chest, which seemingly came from nowhere.
Travel insurance – don’t leave the country without it!
At the time of writing, the weather in the UK could not be better, but nonetheless thoughts are turning to the summer and well-earned holidays abroad.
Walk your way to wellness during national walking month
With better weather, lighter mornings, and longer evenings, May is a lovely time of year, when nature has truly woken up. Happily this coincides with National Walking Month, which encourages people to improve their physical and mental health simply by taking a walk outdoors.
CPR for King and Country
This week King Charles visited the headquarters of the Royal College of Nursing in Central London and undertook a refresher in life-saving CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). Most people who suffer a cardiac arrest are unlikely to do so in the presence of skilled medics, which is where bystander CPR becomes so important. Last year the
Barcode scanning helps meal planning
When doing the weekly shop, most of us opt for the same items week on week, often out of habit or because we are too time-poor to really think about what we are putting in our baskets. Designed to help us make healthier choices, the NHS has launched a food scanner app, which not only pulls up the nutritional information on a particular
How dry was your January?
Now that we are firmly in to February and Christmas is but a distant memory, many people are congratulating themselves on having had a “dry” January. Most people attempt Dry January, thinking that the liver probably needs a bit of a rest after the excesses of Christmas and New Year celebrations, but actually the effects are felt far more
Increased cardiovascular risk from common painkiller
Ibuprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used for relief of a number of symptoms such as toothache, headache, and menstrual pain. As it is widely available as an “over the counter” drug in pharmacies and supermarkets and does not require a prescription, many people believe that it is safe to take whenever an unwelcome
Could music be medicine?
Christmas would not be Christmas without carols and the festive songs we all love singing along to. It has long been acknowledged that music can influence mood and we’ve all experienced that moment when the right song at the right time really lifts our spirits. It does this by affecting the autonomic nervous system, the physiological
High cholesterol increases dementia risk
According to Dementia UK , it is estimated that by next year over a million people in the UK will have a diagnosis of dementia, and almost every single one of us will know someone who is affected. The most common symptoms of dementia include confusion, memory loss, and difficulty understanding, and symptoms are progressive, getting worse
Perfect posture for accurate blood pressure
According to Blood Pressure UK , 1 in 3 adults in the UK has high blood pressure, increasing their risk of death from coronary artery disease and stroke. Once a patient has been diagnosed with high blood pressure, they will generally be advised to purchase a monitor which they can use at home to keep an eye on their readings and make
Every Little Helps
Back in May , we raised the subject of diabetes and mentioned some of the risks associated with it, in particular the fact that it more than doubles a person’s risk of suffering a heart attack or a stroke. With weight loss, exercise and attention to diet, it is possible to enter into remission from diabetes, and a recent study has shown
9 Times Olympic Gold Medalist Shines a Light on PoTS
It is fair to say that the beginning of August was a very exciting time in international sport, with competitors in many different disciplines from all over the world coming together in Paris to represent their sport and their country. We all looked on in awe as these elite athletes performed to the very best of their ability, and
Can AI really predict a heart attack?
Back in July 2021 we were very excited to be one of the first practices in London applying Caristo’s CaRi-Heart technology to CT data. Almost two thirds of heart attacks occur in people who do not have significant narrowings identified on a CT coronary angiogram . The process behind build-up of atheroma in the arteries is in part driven
World Heart Rhythm Week
A normal heart rhythm is something that we usually take for granted, but when it becomes abnormal in some way, it can cause worrying symptoms, or have wider complications for the body. The most common symptom associated with a heart rhythm problem is palpitations – often described as a feeling of pounding or fluttering in the chest – but
Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week
There is nothing good about diabetes. It doubles a person’s risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, and can lead to loss of sight, kidney failure, and limb amputation, even in the relatively young. Although people with a family history of type 2 diabetes are genetically more at risk than others of developing the condition themselves,
Vaping increases risk of heart failure
Based on the 2022 Opinions and Lifestyle Survey issued by the Office for National Statistics, there are approximately 4.5 million vapers in Great Britain, most of whom believe that e-cigarettes are safer than conventional cigarettes since they do not contain tobacco, and contain much lower levels of other carcinogens associated with
Ultra-processed food – is it really that bad for us?
For many of us who are time poor and cannot face cooking from scratch at the end of a long day at work, ready meals and other convenience foods can feel like a godsend. However, many of these types of food fall into the category of “ultra-processed”, and more and more research is showing that ultra-processed food products are associated
Are you having a laugh?
It might have the fewest days in number but for many people February feels like the longest month of the year, with dark mornings and evenings, and often leaden skies during the day. It can therefore feel like there is not a lot to smile, or indeed laugh, about. A good laugh certainly improves mood and is thought to boost the immune
The global burden of cardiovascular disease
Research published in December 2023 has shown that cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death worldwide. The research was a collaboration between the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the US Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in the USA. Together they
ADHD and risk of cardiovascular disease
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD as it is more commonly known, is a disabling condition affecting approximately 2.6 million people in the UK, of which 694,000 are children. Symptoms include restlessness, impulsiveness, and a strong difficulty in focussing or concentrating. Although most cases are diagnosed in childhood,
Time to step it down?
For as far back as I can remember, 10,000 steps a day has been the Holy Grail of daily physical activity, with the promise of better health and fitness if only we can incorporate 10,000 paces into our day. The principle sounds easy but it is a fairly elusive target for those with sedentary occupations whose daily step count is made up
Restart a Heart Day
The British Heart Foundation estimates that 1.4 million people in the UK today have survived a heart attack. It also estimates that some 30,000 people a year suffer a heart attack outside of a hospital setting (known as OHCA, or an “out-of-hospital cardiac arrest”), and of those 30,000, only 1 in 10 survive. The world watched in shock
National Cholesterol Month
October is National Cholesterol Month in the UK, a month-long initiative to raise awareness of the dangers of high cholesterol and measures that an individual can take to reduce theirs. There are several components that together make up the blood cholesterol level, the two major components being LDL (low density lipoprotein) and HDL
World Heart Day – 29 September
29th September is World Heart Day , established by the World Heart Federation in conjunction with the World Health Organization to help increase awareness of cardiovascular disease and how it can be prevented. The latest statistics from the British Heart Foundation estimate that today alone in the UK 460 people will die from
Does semaglutide have a place in cardiovascular medicine?
In recent times tabloid newspapers and medical journals alike have been ablaze with articles about semaglutide (also known as Wegovy and Ozempic), both positive and negative. Many celebrities have endorsed it as a weight loss drug, but it was first developed as a drug for diabetics, to help control their blood sugar. It works by
Twice-yearly injection could replace daily blood pressure pills
According the British Heart Foundation around 15 million people in the UK have high blood pressure, and of those, at least half are not receiving effective treatment. Given that 50% of all heart attacks and strokes in the UK are associated with high blood pressure, the importance of achieving consistently optimal blood pressure control
How to take your blood pressure – without taking your blood pressure
In last month’s article “What’s blood pressure go to to do with it?” we spoke about the importance of maintaining good blood pressure control and the potential consequences of persistently high readings. Standard blood pressure monitoring devices involve a cuff around the upper arm, which is either inflated manually by a doctor using a
What’s blood pressure got to do with it?
News broke yesterday of the death of rock legend Tina Turner, and alongside the outpouring of grief and celebration of all she contributed to the music world, attention has turned to her possible cause of death and her health battles in recent years. In an Instagram post uploaded on International World Kidney Day on 9th March of this
Mediterranean diet lowers risk of death in patients with increased cardiovascular risk
It has long been acknowledged that what we eat and drink affects our health, but with so many different diets out there it can be hard to know which, if any, to follow. For people with cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high levels of the unhealthy cholesterols, physical inactivity, use of tobacco and a family
Smart watches and pacemakers/ICDs
Back in January 2021 we cautioned patients with pacemakers and ICDs about the risk posed to them from smartphones, particularly if stored in a pocket over the cardiac device site (see here ). Now it’s time to turn the spotlight on smart watches. Smart watches and some either types of wearable technology such as fitness trackers send a
Perhaps it’s not all in the timing after all…
Back in December 2019 we were very excited by the results of the Hygia Chronotherapy Trial , which suggested that taking blood pressure medication in the evening instead of the morning led to better blood pressure control, and, better still, a lower risk of heart attack and stroke. However, a more recent study, the Treatment in Morning
Stayin’ alive
Updated – July 2023 The British Heart Foundation estimates that 1.4 million people in the UK today have survived a heart attack. It also estimates that some 30,000 people a year suffer a heart attack outside of a hospital setting (known as OHCA, or an “out-of-hospital cardiac arrest”), and of those 30,000, only 1 in 10 survive. The world
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
For many people Christmas doesn’t officially begin until the first sip of gingerbread latte from a paper cup festooned in festive cheer. This time of year the coffee shops really go to town with their indulgent Christmas offerings, some of which sound more like drinkable desserts, such as the “Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte” from
Dysautonomia awareness
We may have missed Dysautonomia Awareness Month by a few days (October is considered to be the month when autonomic dysfunction is in the spotlight, with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) given a day of its own, this year 25th October ), but there can never be a bad time to highlight this umbrella term for a number of
Stoptober
If you have ever thought about quitting smoking, why not sign up to Stoptober ? Research has shown that if a person can stop smoking for 28 consecutive days, they are 5 times more likely to give it up for good. When it comes to smoking and the heart, there is really nothing positive to say – as well as increasing heart rate and blood
Artificial sweeteners and heart disease
Many people add artificial sweeteners to their tea and coffee thinking that it is healthier than adding sugar, but results from a recent study are suggestive of a direct link between consumption of artificial sweeteners and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Artificial sweeteners are not only found in the tablet or granular
Potassium-rich diet can help to lower blood pressure
A recent study has shown that patients, and particularly women, who consume a lot of salt can lower their blood pressure by consuming potassium-rich foods such as bananas, avocados, salmon and spinach. High blood pressure has long been known to be a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes, and in this study the blood pressure lowering
Sleep apnoea and the cardiovascular system
At the time of writing we are in the midst of a heatwave in London, with temperatures of up to 40°C threatened over the next few days. Quite understandably a big topic of conversation at the moment is how impossible it is to sleep in such heat, and how weary everyone is feeling as a consequence. Thankfully weather conditions like this
A new cholesterol blood test which should become mainstream
When you have a blood test to check your cholesterol the total cholesterol , LDL, HDL and non-HDL cholesterol elements are generally measured. However cholesterol metabolism is highly complex and there are many other elements that can also be measured. One element called lipoprotein (a) is currently hitting the headlines. Lipoprotein (a)
How does your garden grow?
The NHS recommends that adults should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week to help protect against heart disease. Whilst some people benefit from the exercise-focussed environment of a gym, others prefer to incorporate exercise into their daily regime such that it does not feel like exercise at all. We are
Avocados associated with lower risk of heart disease
Avocados have become extremely popular over the last few years and are known to be a good source of many vitamins, minerals and monounsaturated (i.e. good) fats. Now a new study has shown that people who regularly eat just two portions of avocado per week (one portion is roughly equal to half an avocado) are 21% less likely to suffer
Salt awareness week
Salt is an essential mineral for most living things, regulating the levels of fluid in the body and aiding electrical signalling in the nervous system. A fine balance of the minerals sodium and potassium is needed to pull fluid through the walls of blood vessels from the blood stream and into the kidneys, where it is then filtered and
Statins do not cause as many side-effects as people think
Statins are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the UK, and their benefits in terms of reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke and sudden death have been proven in studies time and time again. Many people refuse to even try a statin, believing the risk of developing side-effects to be too high. In those that do try them,
NICE approval for handheld portable ECG recorder
Palpitations are a common symptom experienced by many people, but without an ECG taken at the time of symptoms, it is very difficult to determine whether or not they require treatment . The Kardia device by AliveCor has revolutionised diagnosis of the most common rhythm disturbance, atrial fibrillation , by allowing patients to record
Anticoagulants and dementia in patients with atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation is the most common rhythm change we see, and the risk of developing it increases with age, such that the lifetime risk is estimated to be around 37% for people aged 55 and above. The most significant risk that atrial fibrillation (AF) presents is the risk of stroke; the irregular heart beat predisposes to clot
High BMI increases risk of abnormal heart rhythms
It is a well known fact that a high body mass index (BMI) significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease , to the extent that more than two thirds of deaths associated with a high BMI are actually caused by the consequences of cardiovascular disease, such as heart attack , stroke and heart failure . What is perhaps less well
Lower risk of stroke and heart attack in light to moderate coffee drinkers
Among middle-aged people without heart disease, drinking up to 3 cups of coffee per day was associated with a lower risk of stroke or death over the next decade, along with better heart structure and function, in a study of nearly 500,000 participants. Drinking no more than 3 cups of coffee per day was associated with a 21% lower risk of
Why is salt such a sin? – recently updated
When most people think about salt, the first image that comes to mind is of the tiny white grains that we might sprinkle on our food to liven up an otherwise bland dish. Many people forget that salt is also an essential mineral for most living things, responsible for regulating the levels of fluid in the body and aiding electrical
The cardiovascular system brought to life
Medical News Today , a health information website in the US, has a page dedicated to the cardiovascular system which provides helpful 3D models of the vascular tree and heart. To learn more about the cardiovascular system, including the anatomy of the heart, the heart’s electrical system, what the valves do, and to interact with a 3D
New diabetes drugs confer cardiovascular benefits
Two drug classes known as SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists, developed for use in patients with type 2 diabetes to lower blood glucose levels, have been shown in trials to have unexpected positive outcomes on the cardiovascular system. After 12 months of treatment with an SGLT2 inhibitor such as canagliflozin, dapagliflozin or
New technology for predicting heart attacks
Almost two thirds of heart attacks occur in people who do not have significant narrowings identified on a CT coronary angiogram . The process behind build-up of atheroma in the arteries is in part driven by inflammation within the vessels, and inflammation also provokes rupture of plaques within the arteries, which causes heart attacks.
Liquorice and the heart
After a bad day – or indeed even a good one! – it is very easy to sit down in front of the television with a bag of sweets and suddenly find the packet empty. If that packet contains liquorice then particular caution is advised. Liquorice contains a compound called glycyrrhizin and this increases sodium and lowers potassium levels in the
Useful tool for identifying pills
For patients taking multiple medications a day, dosette boxes and pill organisers can be extremely useful. However, if you have carefully separated out all your pills for the month and the doctor then recommends a change in dose, it can be difficult to distinguish one tablet from another. Medscape , a US medical information website, has
Exercise after Covid-19
For many people exercise is not just important for their physical health but also their mental wellbeing. People who have been hospitalised with Covid-19 or who have been unwell at home for a long period of time will naturally find it hard to return to their normal activity levels, and this is understandably a source of considerable
Living with Long Covid
Over the last year we have heard a lot about the numbers of deaths from Covid-19, and also about the number of patients requiring ITU treatment to help them to survive the infection. What we have not heard so much about is what happens after hospital, when patients are discharged home and how some of their lives continue to be affected
ACEIs and ARBs in Covid-19
Membrane-bound angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) is the functional receptor for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. Drugs such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) upregulate ACE2, raising concerns about their safety in patients with COVID-19. The BRACE-CORONA trial
Smartphone magnets can inhibit ICDs and pacemakers
Who doesn’t love a shiny new smartphone? They wake us up in the morning, keep us connected to colleagues during the workday and friends and family at weekends, help us get from A to B, and indeed almost live our lives for us. These days there seems to be an app for everything and nothing they cannot do. Unfortunately one thing they CAN
The Covid-19 vaccine and heart disease
With the first patients across the UK now being vaccinated against Covid-19, many people with pre-existing heart conditions are quite understandably concerned about the vaccine and whether or not it might pose a risk to them. The British Foundation has a very useful Q&A page about the Covid-19 vaccine and cardiovascular disorders, which
Back to the new normal
At the time of writing, London is just emerging from the second lockdown of the year and it is fairly safe to say that we are all hoping for a Covid-free Christmas and a 2021 that promises better times than we have seen in 2020. Whether life will ever go back to quite how it was pre-Covid remains to be seen, but with a vaccine on the
Cardiac care and Covid-19
2020 has certainly not been the year that any of us expected, and we have all seen monumental changes in the way we live our lives day to day. Delivery of healthcare has seen a complete sea-change, with priorities inevitably evolving to cope with the overwhelming threat of Covid and the risks this poses to everyone, whilst still trying
Grapefruit – the forbidden fruit?
Many people think that a fresh grapefruit for breakfast is a healthy way to kick-start the day, but in fact a single grapefruit or glass of grapefruit juice could have serious consequences for those who take daily medication for a number of causes. The reason for this is that grapefruit contains chemicals which affect the rate at which
Herbs and the heart
Have you ever popped an echinacea tablet at the first sign of a cold or dabbed a spot of aloe vera on a patch of irritated skin? Well, you are certainly not alone. The complementary and alternative medicine market has seen a dramatic growth over the last couple of decades and continues to climb, with many people looking to Eastern styles
Business as un-usual
Now that UK lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease and private sector hospitals are starting to resume their pre-Coronavirus services, we are delighted to be back in our consulting rooms and able to welcome patients to our practice once more. The “new normal” has meant a number of noticeable changes to the way we work to help to
There is no news… for now there is only the coronavirus
It is hard to know where to begin or what to say when it comes to the Coronavirus. If truth be told, there is nothing we can say that has not already been said, and when it comes to the facts and the figures, the knows and the unknowns, there are many authorities out there who can perhaps say it better than we can. There is only really
The plusses and pitfalls of prescriptions
Whether we like it or not, at some point during our lives we will probably all be advised to take a medication for something, whether it is a painkiller for a headache, a course of antibiotics for a chest infection, or a daily tablet for a long term condition such as diabetes or heart disease. According to the World Health Organisation
What becomes of the broken hearted?
From time to time we all hear stories about devoted couples who have spent their whole lives together and then go on to die just a week, day or even an hour apart. In such a situation many people might be inclined to say that the widow or widower in question died from a “broken heart”, but is there really such a thing? A study undertaken
Can sleep quality affect cardiovascular risk?
We all know how miserable it is to drag ourselves through the day when we’ve had a bad night’s sleep. Unrefreshing sleep can leave us lacking in energy, irritable and feeling generally under the weather, but can it also have more significant longer term effects? Researchers looked at over 385,000 people without documented cardiovascular
A glass a day = a stone in a year
Now that “Dry January” has been and gone, many people are guilty of returning to their tipple of choice and enjoying a glass or two of wine of an evening. Aside from the well known and heavily publicised risks associated with alcohol intake – strain on the liver, disrupted sleep, reduced mental alertness, and so on – many alcoholic
Driving and the heart
In this day and age driving becomes second nature to most of us from our late teens onwards, and many drivers would struggle to envisage a life without their car. When illness strikes often the furthest thing from a patient’s mind is whether or not they are fit to drive in the eyes of the law, and whether their condition is one which
A bitter pill to swallow?
Have you ever looked at a tablet and thought it was too big to swallow whole and that cutting it in half would do no harm? Or crushed a pill and mixed it with something tasty to make it easier to swallow? This would seem like a very reasonable thing to do, and indeed a study of care homes in England revealed that 40% of nurses routinely
Energy drinks – friend or foe?
Energy drinks were first developed by a pharmaceutical company in Japan in 1962 to keep their staff alert and thereby facilitate longer working hours. An Austrian businessman on a trip to Asia in the 1980s realised that there was a gap in the European market for similar products and promptly established the company Red Bull, which
Coffee and the cardiovascular system
There is no doubt about it; we are a nation of coffee lovers. It is estimated that we drink an average of 95 million cups per day in the UK, and that coffee contribute £17.7 billion to the UK economy every year. Second only to water as the world’s leading beverage, it is important to be clear on the risks and benefits to health that
Why don’t we like taking pills?
Statins are the most prescribed drugs in the UK, and little wonder when, if taken correctly, they can be associated with a 50% reduction in the risk of heart attack or stroke over a patient’s lifetime. Like many other cardiovascular drugs, this medication should be taken for life, but studies have shown that only about 40% of patients
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