BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION'S DOUBT KILLS CAMPAIGN

Chris Street suggests you ask your MP to sign this Early Day Motion:-

EDM 245

BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION'S DOUBT KILLS CAMPAIGN

22.11.2006

Sanders, Adrian

That this House welcomes the Doubt Kills campaign launched by the British Heart Foundation, which highlights the importance of recognising the early symptoms of a heart attack and promotes the importance of calling 999 immediately; notes that the campaign includes radio and television advertisements as well as a poster campaign with the heading Chest Pain is Your Body Saying Call 999; further notes that the average heart attack victim waits 90 minutes after the first mild symptoms arise to call for an ambulance and that the mortality rate is twice as high for patients treated four to six hours after the onset of symptoms as it is with patients treated within one to two hours; and calls on the Government to back the campaign.

Signatures( 59)
Standard Order Party Groups Alphabetical Order Party Totals
Status
Open signatures All signatures

Sanders, Adrian

Durkan, Mark

George, Andrew

Spink, Bob

Taylor, David

Llwyd, Elfyn

Harris, Evan

Jenkins, Brian

Jones, Lynne

Loughton, Tim

Caton, Martin

Conway, Derek

Cryer, Ann

Davey, Edward

Dismore, Andrew

Ennis, Jeff

Galloway, George

Hemming, John

Iddon, Brian

Dobbin, Jim

Drew, David

Bottomley, Peter

Williams, Betty

Leech, John

Ruane, Chris

Hopkins, Kelvin

Hoyle, Lindsay

Lepper, David

Meale, Alan

Williams, Roger

Hunter, Mark

Rennie, Willie

Hermon, Sylvia

Owen, Albert

Campbell, Gregory

Vis, Rudi

Swinson, Jo

Williams, Mark

Pugh, John

Simpson, Alan

Naysmith, Doug

Crausby, David

Dodds, Nigel

Austin, Ian

Simpson, David

Etherington, Bill

McCrea, Dr William

McDonnell, Alasdair

Murphy, Paul

Bruce, Malcolm

Dean, Janet

Griffith, Nia

Price, Adam

Baldry, Tony

Benyon, Richard

Marsden, Gordon

Dorries, Nadine

Betts, Clive

Clark, Katy

The Importance of CPR

This is the reason your CPR card has an expiry date. If you don't stay current and perform an inadequate CPR technique, technically you are liable (although it's unlikely you'd be sued). I renewed my ACLS certificate a few months ago and can confirm the new 30:2 ratio is endorsed by the American Heart Association. Other changes were made to airway obstructions, too.

If you want to do CPR I suggest you take a refresher course. (I've personally reanimated hundreds of people and it's nice when it works), but you have to do it properly if you want to give the patient his best chance at living again.

clipped from science.slashdot.org "A Japanese study detailed in the New York Times has found that people suffering from cardiac arrest were more likely to recover without brain damage if rescuers focused on chest compressions rather than on rescue breaths. Some experts advised dropping the mouth-to-mouth part of CPR altogether. Interrupting chest compression to perform mouth-to-mouth ventilation might do more harm than good if blood flow to the heart was not properly re-established, a researcher from Tokyo's Surugadai Nihon University Hospital said. According to the article, 'More than 300,000 Americans die from cardiac arrest each year. Roughly 9 out of 10 cardiac arrest victims die before they get to a hospital — partly because they do not get CPR.'"

How to survive a heart attack when alone

clipped from: www.ifood.tv

HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE

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Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed in order.) Without help the person whose heart stops beating properly and who begins to feel Faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.

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The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a phone and, between breaths, call for help.

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Tell as many other people as possible about this, it could save their lives!

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from Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital via Chapter 240's newsletter AND THE BEAT GOES ON... (reprint from The Mended Hearts, Inc. publication, Heart Response)

reposted from: clipmarks.com
my highlights / emphasis / comments

those at risk of less severe heart attacks should receive early heart X-rays - social background to be figured into risk assessment.

Experts' plan to cut heart deaths

Experts believe thousands of lives could be saved

A radical new approach to preventing heart disease could save more than 7,000 lives over the next five years, according to health professionals.

Experts are recommending a new approach which they say could also prevent 27,000 heart attacks and other "cardiac events" in Scotland.

About 500,000 more people could be in line to receive preventative treatment.

The plans, which recommend regular risk assessments for all over-40s, aim to target those most at risk.

They have been produced by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (Sign), which draws up guidelines for the NHS.

It recommends that more people should be given statin drugs to reduce cholesterol.

Lifestyle advice

The guidelines also recommend that, for the first time, doctors take into account social status when deciding whether people need treatment to prevent heart disease.

This could be based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, which has been created by the Scottish Executive to identify areas of deprivation across Scotland.

It is expected that 50% of men in Scotland and 20% of women over the age of 40 could be prescribed cholesterol-lowering statins.

The guidelines would see the over-40s undergo a risk assessment every five years, at which they would also receive lifestyle advice.

The health professionals say that those at risk of less severe heart attacks should receive early heart X-rays and be assessed for possible surgery.

These guidelines could save lives, and improve the quality of life of people living with heart disease Marjory Burns British Heart Foundation Scotland

Patients with the most serious type of heart attack should be admitted to regional centres to have the blood clots and narrowed arteries removed and replaced with a device to keep the arteries open.

If this is not possible within 90 minutes of diagnosis, they should rapidly receive the most effective clot-busting drugs.

More patients with heart problems should be given implantable defibrillators to reduce the risk of sudden death and discharge arrangements for hospital patients with heart failure should be improved.

Professor Keith Fox of Sign said: "These guidelines bring together the most robust and up-to-date scientific evidence and the very best clinical expertise to detail how we can save thousands of people from developing and suffering the complications of heart disease.

"The result will be thousands of deaths avoided and tens of thousands of people whose lives will not be blighted by heart attacks, angina, heart failure, heart rhythm disorders and other complications that impair quality of life."

More people will be screened for heart problems

He said family history and social background could also be figured into risk assessment.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) claimed more than 10,000 lives in Scotland last year.

However, deaths have fallen by 30% over the last 10 years - partly because of previous Sign guidelines, according to the experts.

Marjory Burns, director of the British Heart Foundation Scotland, welcomed the new "milestone".

"These guidelines could save lives and improve the quality of life of people living with heart disease, but they will only do so if they are adequately resourced and implemented," she said.

"We would also therefore call on the Scottish Executive to ensure that the political will and the resources are found to implement them fully."

INTERACTIVE DEPRIVATION MAP Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation Many computers will open this web page automatically, but you may need Adobe SVG Viewer Download the viewer here

The chief executive of Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland, David Clark, welcomed the new guidelines and reiterated the need for adequate funding.

He added: "We also need to keep up the message that the best ways to keep your heart healthy are to stop smoking, watch your diet and take more exercise."

It is estimated almost that 200 extra staff would be needed in the first five years of implementing the guidelines, with the total cost of putting the recommendations into practice estimated at £44m in the first year, rising to £78m in the sixth year.

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said the guidelines set out a long-term vision for preventing and treating coronary heart disease.

"The recommendations in the guidelines about prevention sit well with our anticipatory care programme, Keep Well, which is about increasing the rate of health improvement in the most deprived communities," he added.

reposted from: BBC
my highlights / emphasis / edits

Cholesterol reducing Statins to be recommended by NHS, Scotland to 50% of men over 40

Experts' plan to cut heart deaths.

Preventative treatment could prevent thousands of deaths

A radical new approach to preventing heart disease could save more than 7,000 lives over the next five years, according to health professionals.

Experts are recommending a new approach which they say could also prevent 27,000 heart attacks and other "cardiac events" in Scotland.

About 500,000 more people could be in line to receive preventative treatment.

The plans, which recommend regular risk assessments for all over-40s, aim to target those most at risk.

They have been produced by the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (Sign), which draws up guidelines for the NHS.

It recommends that more people should be given statin drugs to reduce cholesterol.

reposted from: BBC
my highlights / emphasis / edits

REGISTER TODAY FOR GLASGOW: sign heart disease guidelines launch event SECC, Glasgow • Tuesday 6th February 2007

ASSIGN - new risk scoring tool

Existing risk calculators, such as that from Framingham, underestimate risk in deprived groups and in people from ethnic minorities such as British Asians. By adding social deprivation and family history to the formula we have produced a new tool for estimating risk, ASSIGN, which has the potential to reduce some of the social inequalities inherent in current CVD risk calculation methods. The new ASSIGN score is being evaluated for adoption in Scotland.
Professor Hugh Tunstall-Pedoe and Professor Mark Woodward who led the project to develop ASSIGN, and Dr Jim Grant, chair of the SIGN risk estimation subgroup will demonstrate the system, discuss the rationale behind this new development and take part in a Q&A session.

Lifestyle advice

The guidelines also recommend that, for the first time, doctors take into account our social status when deciding whether people need treatment to prevent heart disease.

It is expected that 50% of Scottish men and 20% of women over the age of 40 could be prescribed cholesterol-lowering statins.

The guidelines would see the over-40s undergo a risk assessment every five years, at which they would also receive lifestyle advice.

The health professionals say that those at risk of less severe heart attacks should receive early heart x-rays and be assessed for possible surgery.

These guidelines could save lives, and improve the quality of life of people living with heart disease Marjory Burns British Heart Foundation Scotland

Patients with the most serious type of heart attack should be admitted to regional centres to have the blood clots and narrowed arteries removed and replaced with a device to keep the arteries open.

If this is not possible within 90 minutes of diagnosis, they should rapidly receive the most effective clot-busting drugs.

More patients with heart problems should be given implantable defibrillators to reduce the risk of sudden death and discharge arrangements for hospital patients with heart failure should be improved.

Professor Keith Fox of Sign said: "These guidelines bring together the most robust and up-to-date scientific evidence and the very best clinical expertise to detail how we can save thousands of people from developing and suffering the complications of heart disease.

"The result will be thousands of deaths avoided and tens of thousands of people whose lives will not be blighted by heart attacks, angina, heart failure, heart rhythm disorders and other complications that impair quality of life."

'Milestone' welcomed

He said family history and social background could also be figured into risk assessment.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) claimed more than 10,000 lives in Scotland last year.

However, deaths have fallen by 30% over the last 10 years - partly became of previous SIGN guidelines, according to the experts.

Marjory Burns, director of British Heart Foundation Scotland, welcomed the new "milestone".

Extra staff

"These guidelines could save lives and improve the quality of life of people living with heart disease, but they will only do so if they are adequately resourced and implemented," she said.

"We would also therefore call on the Scottish Executive to ensure that the political will and the resources are found to implement them fully."

It is estimated almost that 200 extra staff would be needed in the first five years of implementing the guidelines, with the total cost of putting the recommendations into practice estimated at £44m in the first year, rising to £78m in the sixth year.

A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said the guidelines set out a long-term vision for preventing and treating coronary heart disease.

"The recommendations in the guidelines about prevention sit well with our anticipatory care programme, Keep Well, which is about increasing the rate of health improvement in the most deprived communities," he added.

Every 5 minutes somebody in the UK dies from a heart attack

A chest pain is your body saying call 999!

View the British Heart Foundation campaign launched 26th November 2006.

A huge poster already spotted at Eastcote last week.

Download the Doubt Kills campaign poster here

Listen to the first Doubt Kills radio advert here

Listen to the second Doubt Kills radio advert here

Coronary heart disease is Britain’s biggest killer. Almost one in five men and one in six women die from this disease.

However, for people with diabetes the risk is much higher. Among those who have diabetes,women have a greater risk of developing coronary heart disease than men. Women with diabetes are three to five times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than women without diabetes. Men with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than men without diabetes.

British Heart Foundation - 7 out of 10 over 45 have high cholesterol

My cholesterol level is 5.2 mmoles /Litre (Boots test) or 5.1 (GP Nurse test). British Heart Foundation say it should be <5.0>

How is cholesterol measured?

Measuring cholesterol levels involves a simple blood test. This can be done either through a full blood test or a pinprick test. It is measured in millimols per litre of blood. These tests should always be carried out by a GP or trained health professional rather than using a self test kit.

What is the ideal cholesterol level?

The BHF advises that people should have a total cholesterol level of under 5 mmol/1 and a LDL level under 3 mmol/1.

The average blood cholesterol level of people living in England is 5.5mmol/1. This is high compared to other countries. For example, in China the average is 4.5mmol/1.

Who is at risk?

Those most at risk are those people who have a high intake of saturated fat in their diets. However, you can lower your cholesterol level by reducing your saturated fat intake, increasing the amount of physical activity you do and increasing your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables.

BHF launched a campaign to highlight cholesterol - and get people to think more seriously about the health of their heart.

Today, nearly half of all deaths from coronary heart disease in Britain are due to raised cholesterol.

People should take positive steps to look after their hearts by cutting down saturated fats, increasing the amount of physical activity they take and eating more fresh fruit and vegetables.

You may have seen our adverts on TV, which show a series of animated characters worrying about the outward signs of ageing - such as getting wrinkles and loss of hair. But all of the characters show scant regard for their health - and especially their hearts. Watch the ad here.

And today ex Malaysian Prime Minister has heart attack.