Tag: heart attacks

Research grant for Edinburgh project investigating new drug which could prevent injury to the heart after heart attack

A research project at the University of Edinburgh, led by Professor Gillian Gray, has been awarded £88,000 by Heart Research UK. Prof Gray’s team has discovered that a drug originally developed to treat obesity and diabetes also promotes repair of the heart after a heart attack and reduces the development of heart failure.

Now the team will use ‘mass spectrometry imaging’ (MSI) to look in more detail at the effects of the drug on the heart muscle.

Heart attacks occur when the blood flow to the heart is interrupted, causing damage that can weaken the heart and lead to heart failure. The new drug that has been discovered acts early after heart attack to prevent the spread of injury in the heart muscle and therefore has the potential to benefit many patients.

As obese and diabetic people are at higher risk of heart attack, the combined actions of the drug on the heart, fat and insulin make it particularly appealing.

The drug has already undergone safety tests in volunteers, so could now rapidly progress to human trials. However, the research team will first need to show that this new drug offers benefits over existing drugs used to treat heart failure.

To do this, the team will use MSI to further investigate the effects the drug has on the heart. It is anticipated that this will provide unique evidence that the biochemical pathways in the heart muscle affected by the drug are distinct from those affected by drugs already used to treat heart failure.

MSI uses a laser to collect samples from slices of tissues. Levels of substances in the body like cortisol and cholesterol breakdown products, that we expect to change after a heart attack and in response to the drug, can be measured in each spot targeted by the laser. This information can then be used to build a map of where they are found.

The MSI group, led by collaborator Professor Ruth Andrew, have already used this technique to visualise and measure activity of the enzyme targeted by the drug in the brain, liver and kidney.

They will prepare thin sections of heart muscle and use the laser to capture samples from injured areas and compare these to samples from healthy areas. MSI has enormous potential for helping to understand biochemical pathways in the heart but has never been systematically applied to heart tissue before.

Kate Bratt-Farrar, Chief Executive of Heart Research UK, said: “We’re very happy to be able to award one of our Novel and Emerging Technologies Grants to Professor Gray and her team.

“This project will generate novel MSI data from heart tissue which will provide vital information on how the drug affects the heart, and we’re proud to be a part of it.”

You can read more about and apply for Heart Research UK’s Research Grants here.

Keeping Santa Heart-Healthy

Heart Research UK campaign seeks to educate people on the risk of heart attacks over the winter period

Reports have found that the risk of heart attack rises approximately 15% over Christmas time. To highlight the dramatic effect the festive season can have on heart health, national heart charity Heart Research UK has created a special Christmas awareness campaign that aims to inform the public and raise vital funds that will benefit life-saving research.

Research from the UK and Sweden has shown that Christmas can put a huge strain on our hearts, with approximately a 15% increase in heart attack risk at Christmas time. Seasonal changes and the rise in contagious illnesses including influenza can contribute to a person’s increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease and it’s especially dangerous for the elderly and those with certain underlying health conditions.

Reports show that deaths due to cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease increase during the winter months with heart attacks (myocardial infarction) being more prevalent.

In 2019/20 in the UK, there were 6,661 excess winter deaths due to cardiovascular disease which included 2,820 deaths due to coronary heart disease. In addition to this, research from Sweden found that the risk of heart attack increased by 15% during the Christmas and New Year period.

It is therefore easy to see why Santa Claus finds himself the subject of Heart Research UK’s latest campaign. With his stressful job, poor diet, irregular exercise and fondness for mince pies and sherry, Santa fits this profile of someone who needs to be aware of their heart health over the Christmas period.

Introducing ‘A Healthy Heart Christmas’– a new campaign from Heart Research UK designed to raise awareness of the risk of heart disease during the winter months.

The campaign highlights the increase in risk of heart attack over the winter months and highlights the dangers of a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, excessive alcohol consumption and stress whilst providing a number of handy resources via their website to help everybody enjoy a heart healthy and stress-free Christmas.

To accompany the campaign, Heart Research UK has partnered with thortful, the UK’s largest online card marketplace, to create a set of hand-drawn, limited-edition Christmas cards showing traditional festive scenes. Proceeds from sales of the cards will go towards funding Heart Research UK’s lifesaving research.

“We are extremely grateful to all the thortful customers for their generous contributions. The donations from the Christmas card sales will help us raise much-needed funds for our pioneering medical research into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease. We are so thankful for their support. Together we can take on heart disease.” says Kate Bratt-Farrar, Chief Executive at Heart Research UK.

Finally, as part of a radio spot promoting the campaign, BAFTA-winning actor and Line of Duty star Mark Bonnar has lent his distinctive voice to a special retelling of the iconic Christmas poem ‘A Visit from St Nicholas’, leading with the famous ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ verse before encouraging people to visit Heart Research UK’s website and donate.

Anyone who wants to donate towards their life-saving research or learn more, can visit the Heart Research UK website (https://heartresearch.org.uk/), where they can access a range of useful tips and guidance on how to take care of their heart and make little changes to their lifestyle and diet over the holidays.

The range of limited-edition Heart Research UK Christmas cards are available to purchase here https://www.thortful.com/creator/heartresearchuk with all proceeds supporting Heart Research UK. 

Ambulance Service appeal: Restart a Heart

The Scottish Ambulance Service has issued an appeal for more members of the public to learn vital CPR skills to mark Restart a Heart Day. The Service has also called for all Public Access Defibrillators (PADs) to be registered to maximise the chances of patients surviving a cardiac arrest.

Continue reading Ambulance Service appeal: Restart a Heart

BHF awards Edinburgh scientists over half a million pounds to determine best treatment after heart attack

Every 20 minutes someone goes to hospital in Scotland due to heart attack

Nearly 20,000 people in Scotland will be included in a clinical trial to determine the best drug treatment after suffering a heart attack. The trial is being funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) which has awarded a grant of £630,000 to BHF Professor of Cardiology David Newby and his team at the University of Edinburgh. Continue reading BHF awards Edinburgh scientists over half a million pounds to determine best treatment after heart attack

Edinburgh to benefit from life-saving equipment

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Edinburgh is to benefit from a new project to install life-saving defibrillators in strategic sites across the city.

The Lord Provost launched the appeal in partnership with St John Scotland at a City Chambers reception last week to support the roll out of twenty Public Access Automated Emergency Defibrillators, or PAAEDs, across Edinburgh over the next twelve months.

The project will see the Edinburgh Committee of St John Scotland deploy the devices and create local partnerships with three key groups of participants: Donors, Hosts and Guardians.

The Lord Provost Donald Wilson, who has been made an Officer of St John, said: “By making it easy for businesses and people who want to help, this ground-breaking initiative will increase the provision of defibrillators in Edinburgh and install the machines in key sites like community centres, churches, tram and train stops.

“Not only will St John Scotland increase the number of these incredible devices in Edinburgh, but they will make sure the machines are maintained. Their volunteers will raise awareness of how simple they are to use so that eventually, nobody in Edinburgh should need to think twice before using one in an emergency.

“Having been involved in pushing the City Defibrillator Project off the ground I am delighted to see it deployed. Without a doubt it is thanks to the awareness raising of the Jamie Skinner Foundation that this project exists and that countless lives will be saved.”

Major General Mark J Strudwick, said: “As Prior of St John Scotland, I am delighted to see our Edinburgh Committee progress this extremely valuable, lifesaving project for the city to this stage. We look forward to garnering support from the local community in Edinburgh to turn this initiative into reality.”

Businesses, voluntary organisations, civic institutions and individuals will be able to provide funding for public access defibrillators by applying online at the newly launched St John and the City website.

St John Scotland will place the life saving devices at strategic sites – known as Hosts – across Edinburgh, taking into account the volume of people in the immediate vicinity.

Guardians will operate as a team of volunteers who will regularly monitor all the defibrillators ensuring they are in place and in working order.  A member from the Edinburgh Team of St John Scotland (known as a Coordinator) will be responsible for the Defibrillator Register, ensuring the register is up to date and all the PAAED locations are mapped out.  This information will be shared with the Scottish Ambulance Service.

The framework has been developed following a pilot project undertaken in early 2015 which saw St John Scotland successfully partner with Network Rail to provide necessary support for hosting four PAAEDs at Waverley Station. One year on, these defibrillators have been deployed four times, and used to tackle two heart attacks, demonstrating the benefits of having immediate access to lifesaving and easy to use equipment in public places.

The easy-to-use units can prove vital in the event of someone suffering a heart attack. It is hoped that the delivery of PAAEDs will be achieved through a combination of developing partnerships with organisations, businesses and other enterprises and through direct fundraising from the citizens of Edinburgh who wish to contribute to their well-being.

Public information and education forms a vital part of the project, as it is important that Edinburgh’s citizens are aware of how easy it is to use an automated defibrillator in the case of an emergency. This education will be achieved by communicating through a variety of channels, such as fundraising activities, media coverage and the dedicated project website: www.stjohnandthecity.org.uk