Latest news with #cardiacrehabilitation
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Heart club receives hundreds of pounds from donations
A HEART club has received hundreds of pounds in donations. Bournemouth Heart Club recently received a £400 donation from Bournemouth Rotary Club. This is nothing new for Bournemouth Rotary, with their longstanding commitment to support 'local health initiatives'. The president, Virginia Beck, presented the cheque of £400 to Caroline Marshall, the general manager of the heart club. Founded in 1996, the heart club provides rehabilitation support for individuals recovering from cardiac procedures or living with a high risk of coronary heart disease. Today, its services also extend to those managing chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, offering tailored exercise programmes and health education to improve long-term outcomes. A spokesperson for Bournemouth Rotary said: "The club's support of the Heart Club spans decades, with former member the late Peter Bath instrumental in funding the construction of the gymnasium in 1996. "This latest donation reflects Rotary's continued dedication to promoting community well-being." President Beck stated that Bournemouth Heart Club represents 'the very best of community care'. She said: "The Bournemouth Heart Club represents the very best of community care - compassionate, consistent, and life-changing. "We're proud to support its mission and hope this contribution helps sustain its vital work for those recovering from cardiac issues and managing long-term health conditions."
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
'I had a heart attack while on a bike ride - now I'll cycle from London to Brighton'
A South Croydon dad who survived a heart attack is set to take part in the British Heart Foundation's (BHF) London to Brighton bike ride. Jon White, 50, was cycling a well-known route near his house in August 2023, when he felt a slight tightness in his chest. As a keen cyclist, he had a device to monitor his distance and heart rate. The readings showed an unusual slowing of his heart rate. The father-of-one decided to head home and call his GP. South Croydon dad takes on London to Brighton ride after cardiac recovery (Image: Jon White) On his way to a nearby train station, Mr White began feeling nauseous and clammy, which prompted him to dial 999, unaware that he was in the middle of a medical emergency. Mr White said: "When the ambulance arrived, they put the ECG leads on, looked at the readings, and just calmly said, 'You've done the right thing, you're having a heart attack.'" "Strangely, when I heard that, I didn't feel much shock. "I just felt a sense of relief that I hadn't overreacted." Jon White with his wife Maria (Image: Jon White) Mr White was taken to St George's Hospital, where doctors inserted two stents into his coronary arteries to restore blood flow to his heart. Despite the procedure's success, the blockage caused permanent damage to his heart. He now takes medication to help his heart function better. After undergoing a cardiac rehabilitation programme at Croydon University Hospital, Mr White has returned to cycling to maintain his fitness. However, he admits it was daunting to get back on the bike. Mr White said: "My recovery took a lot longer than I expected. "It's been about the head as much as the heart because the mental side of things has been really up and down. "I've tried to retain a positive outlook because I know I've been lucky, and I'm grateful for the support I've had. "The cardiac rehab team in Purley have been a great source of support and practical help." He added: "I've had to make a lot of adjustments to how I cycle to ensure I'm not overdoing it. "It's very different from the carefree days when I just headed out for a big ride. "I'm very conscious of what my family has been through, but I'm lucky that my wife and son have been brilliant." Participating in the London to Brighton bike ride, Mr White aims to give back to the BHF, share his story, and help people recognise the symptoms of a heart attack. The BHF's flagship fundraising event, in its 48th year, sees more than 14,000 cyclists ride the 54-mile route from Clapham Common to Brighton seafront, raising around £2 million for heart and circulatory condition research. Lucy King, events manager at the BHF, said: "It's good to hear that Jon is doing so well after his heart attack and that he's able to pursue his passion for cycling. "His story is an important reminder that it's vital to call 999 if you ever experience symptoms that could be a heart attack. "In Croydon, heart and circulatory disease cause 59 deaths each month. "By taking part in this event, Jon will be helping to fund research to discover new ways of diagnosing and treating heart conditions, giving people the best chance of longer, healthier lives."
Medscape
12-06-2025
- Health
- Medscape
The Most Vicious Cycle of All: Cardiac PTSD
Just surviving a major cardiac event is an achievement, but of course getting through whatever initial resuscitation and procedures necessary are merely the first steps. As a patient embarks on their rehabilitation journey, one incredibly dangerous setback cardiologists must be on the lookout for is cardiac posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This remarkably common complication — according to a 2004 study published in Critical Care Medicine , as many as 27% of those who survive cardiac events may develop PTSD — can not only cause noncompliance with medication and other ongoing treatment modalities but also put the patient at an increased risk for a second cardiac event. 'In the aftermath of cardiac arrest or a heart attack, one of the most overlooked aspects of recovery is the emotional toll it takes, said Srihari S. Naidu, MD, a professor of medicine at New York Medical College and director of the Cardiac Cath Labs at the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, both in Valhalla, New York. 'The experience can be deeply traumatic, not just for the patient, but for their loved ones as well. Despite this, mental health remains one of the least systematically addressed components of cardiac care.' One problem, Naidu said, is that we 'still, we lack standardized approaches to routinely screen, diagnose, and treat PTSD in this vulnerable population.' Indeed, the American Heart Association identified this as a problem in its 2020 scientific statement, Sudden Cardiac Arrest Survivorship. In this publication, the association said the coordination of multidisciplinary care, to include emotional care, must start as early as within the ICU, but that it needs to continue throughout the recovery period. Srihari S. Naidu, MD 'Without a coordinated plan during hospitalization to assess both short- and long-term recovery needs, we risk missing the broader picture,' said Naidu, who is also the president of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. 'In my experience, the outpatient clinic visit is often the first, and sometimes the only, opportunity to uncover these issues, which may manifest as anxiety or persistent thoughts about the event, or a variety of unrelated symptoms.' James Jackson, MD, director of Behavioral Health and professor of medicine and psychiatry at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, said the symptoms are all united by one thing: The fact that the patient has the source of their trauma with them at all times. 'If you're carrying your heart around with you and the heart is the source of the trauma, you're constantly reminded, right? And if your cardiac event developed out of the blue, the concern is it could develop out of the blue again, right? So you're carrying this trauma around with you. It's a constant reminder,' he said. 'The trauma is not parked somewhere in the rear view. The trauma is sort of in the present and even in the future.' Symptom-wise, this trauma manifests itself in a variety of ways and can often go overlooked due to the focus on the physical recovery, Naidu said. 'During follow-up, subtle cues begin to emerge; patients who seem emotionally distant, who have trouble sleeping, or who avoid talking about what happened (can be red flags),' he said. 'PTSD doesn't always present dramatically.' Sometimes, Naidu said, it's the patient who suddenly bursts into tears when recalling the event. Other times, it's the one who avoids follow-ups, skips cardiac rehab, or steers clear of anything that reminds them of the hospital. Early symptoms may include hypervigilance, nightmares, intrusive memories, emotional numbness, and avoidance. The Cycle Folds Onto Itself When you break it down and look at triggering factors, it's not hard to understand how PTSD becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 'Often with patients in a cardiac context, they get quite anxious. Their heart starts beating fast, and then they really worry. And so their response to that is, I'm going to withdraw. I'm going to disengage,' Jackson said. While physical activity or exercise often helps reduce stress, patients are often short of breath and are reminded how it felt when they were having the attack. James Jackson, MD 'And so if they start to exercise, it's all well and good,' Jackson said. 'But as soon as they get slightly short of breath, even if they're fine physiologically, as soon as they get short of breath, they're going to shut that down. And this is just one example, but it becomes a very isolating sort of process.' Patients left in this sustained crisis state experience a significantly diminished overall quality of life, and a study led by Antonia Seligowski and published in the March 2024 issue of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity found that PTSD after cardiac arrest significantly increases the risks for both major adverse cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality within just 1 year of discharge. This is supported by the findings of Donald Edmondson, MD, associate professor of behavioral medicine in medicine and psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York City, both in his 2013 study published in the American Heart Journal and in research he has done since. 'Over the years now, we've studied cardiac patients, both acute coronary syndrome, so myocardial infarction, as well as cardiac arrest and stroke,' Edmondson said. 'What we see is that between 15 and 30% of patients will screen positive for PTSD due to that cardiac event 1 month later. Those who screen positive for PTSD are at least at doubled risk, if not greater, for having another cardiac event or dying within the year after that first cardiac event.' These outcomes highlight how critical it is to address PTSD early and effectively, Naidu said. 'As cardiologists, we often focus on optimizing medications, procedures, and physical rehabilitation, but without integrating behavioral support, we're missing a major part of the healing process,' he said. PTSD and cardiovascular disease have a well-documented relationship: PTSD can worsen cardiovascular risk, and in turn, living with heart disease can amplify psychological stress. Jackson said that there are behavioral health approaches at work in other areas that may be useful for cardiac events that are not sudden onset. 'There's a general sort of a movement afoot called prehab,' Jackson said. 'The general idea about prehab would be, 'Hey, you're going to have this surgery. We think that it's going to knock your brain down. So we're going to try to do some brain training with you before the surgery, and we think that in doing that, we're going to build your reserve up.' Is There a Type? Although a 2022 study led by Sophia Armand and published in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing showed that younger age, female sex, and high levels of acute stress at the time of the event to be significant risk factors for developing PTSD after cardiac arrest. There's no one overarching 'profile' in terms of who's likely to develop PTSD after any cardiac event. Naidu has his hunches, though. Donald Edmondson, MD 'I would say that I suspect cardiac arrest is more frequently associated with PTSD than other types of cardiac events. Compared to conditions like myocardial infarction or unstable angina, the psychological impact of cardiac arrest, particularly when complicated by anoxic brain injury, tends to be more profound,' Naidu said, cautioning that individual risk factors should be weighed in every case. 'Anoxic injury significantly increases the risk of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, often for an uncertain duration.' At Columbia, Edmondson said there are two indicators that together predict a high risk for a cardiac patient developing PTSD. 'They tend to pay close attention to their cardiac sensations and catastrophize them,' Edmondson said of the patients who go on to develop PTSD. 'Initially, in the ER [emergency room], they're extremely distressed. Then, post event, they'll say over the past 4 weeks, when I feel my heart beating fast, I worry that I'm having another heart attack. Or if I feel short of breath, I worry that I'm going to die.' 'Having those two predictors together, so initial high distress in the emergency department and this sort of high, what we call interoceptive bias, those two things together place people at high risk for developing PTSD at that 1-month period (after their cardiac event).' Regardless, more research must be done on this extremely risky and highly debilitating mental health issue that's so deeply entwined with its cardiac trigger. 'More focused studies are needed to better understand the timing, risk factors, and mechanisms behind these symptoms, and to develop standardized strategies for early screening, intervention, and long-term psychological support,' said Naidu. 'An urgent need exists to screen for and treat PTSD, not just for mental health but to help prevent repeat hospitalizations and improve long-term cardiovascular outcomes.'
CTV News
09-06-2025
- Health
- CTV News
North Bay's first funded cardiac rehab program launches in Canadore College
Several health and wellness partners have come together to form North Bay's first comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program.
CNA
21-05-2025
- Health
- CNA
More younger people in Singapore developing heart conditions; heart attacks remain on the rise
SINGAPORE: At the age of 37, Mr Alvin Mercado suffered his first heart attack while accompanying his young daughter at their family clinic. 'I would describe it as something like a crushing, heavy pain. And then I had this numbness running from my neck through my left hand, and I was wearing a mask - and I recall that I couldn't breathe at all,' he recounted. When he sought help from the doctor, he was immediately taken to the hospital where he was told he needed an emergency stent procedure. But that was not the end of the bad news. Nine months later in mid-2024, he suffered a second heart attack despite having already made healthier changes to his lifestyle. The IT engineer is now undergoing a cardiac rehabilitation programme. Mr Mercado is among a growing number of younger Singaporeans experiencing heart problems that could lead to more serious conditions later in life, according to doctors and cardiologists. The National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) now handles more than 120,000 patient consultations every year – up from 80,000 in 2006. This also comes as the number of heart attack cases in Singapore continue to go up. Data from the Singapore Myocardial Infarction Registry showed the number went up from about 8,000 in 2011 to over 12,000 a decade later. The number of heart attacks in Singapore is projected to rise almost three-fold from about 480 cases per 100,000 people this year, to around 1,400 by 2050, according to forecasts by medical researchers from the National University Health System cluster. Cardiovascular disease – or heart disease – is the top cause of death in Singapore, accounting for almost a third of deaths in 2023. WHAT ARE THE MAJOR RISK FACTORS? Dr Ching Chi Keong, senior consultant cardiologist at NHCS, told CNA that the number of people aged above 50 with hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes has risen over the years. These are major risk factors for heart disease, the most common of which is coronary artery disease. 'Fortunately, not all patients with coronary artery disease have the severe form leading to heart attacks or sudden death, but it's prudent to control these risk factors,' Dr Ching added. For those like Mr Mercado who suffered heart attacks below the age of 40, doctors pointed to two main risk factors – a history of smoking and a family history of heart disease. Mr Mercado said he had ignored the warning signs in the weeks leading up to his first heart attack, including his family history. He had felt the same sort of 'heavy crushing pain' in his chest, numbness in his hands and cold sweat. 'These are the classic traits, but I brushed it off because it went away after 15 minutes. I brushed it off as something like a transient kind of fatigue,' he said. Dr Ching warned that these are the exact symptoms – chest pain or difficulty breathing – that could point to an undiagnosed heart condition. Pressing on with activities could lead to sudden fainting spells, he further cautioned. Meanwhile, extreme cases of arrhythmia – or an abnormal heart rhythm – affect about 2 per cent of the population or more than 100,000 people in Singapore, according to available statistics. Dr Ching said those suffering from this may feel light-headed and experience palpitations. It could lead to a stroke or heart failure. Risk factors include age, existing heart disease and other diseases like thyroid disorders, lung disease, poorly controlled hypertension, and obesity. Dr Ching advised that patients go for an electrocardiogram (ECG) when they experience an abnormal heart rate or rhythm, as this can come and go. 'For those without any symptoms, it may be appropriate or reasonable to see your doctor for a physical checkup, maybe an ECG before one goes on strenuous physical activity or training. The family physician is usually able to assess symptoms,' he said. He added that he recommends patients to wear gadgets, like smartwatches, that can record a heartbeat. This helps provide an additional point of reference for doctors. MARATHON DEATHS Dr Ching also noted recent media reports of sudden deaths of young people dying after marathons, including a 23-year-old man who died at the 2XU Compression Run last month. The case is still under police investigation. In 2011 and 2016, a 22-year-old and a 28-year-old died respectively after taking part in the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. Both were found to have succumbed to heart conditions. 'In these individuals who are at risk of sudden death events from physical exertion, we have (found that) coronary artery disease remains one of the major causes,' said Dr Ching. 'But there are other uncommon heart conditions that may lead to sudden cardiac death from heavy physical exertion, such as abnormal thickened heart muscles – a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.' Inadequate hydration while running a marathon can also 'cause a perfect storm' with other medical or heart conditions, leading to sudden cardiac death, added Dr Ching. MORE CPR, AED TRAINING At the Singapore Heart Foundation, more than 3,000 clients passed through its heart wellness centres in the past year – 15 per cent more than in 2021. The foundation runs rehabilitation programmes which include supervised exercise, dietary planning, and even mental health support. It is also boosting its training efforts to ensure people know how to react if they come across someone suffering a heart attack. A patient's chance of survival drops by 10 per cent for every minute that nothing is done to resuscitate them. According to the foundation, about 70 to 80 per cent of cardiac arrests happen outside of healthcare facilities – specifically at home or in public places. In 2021, nearly 6 in 10 cardiac arrest victims received bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) - up from 20 per cent from a decade before. But among these cases, only less than 10 per cent used an automated external defibrillator (AED). To plug this gap, the foundation conducted more outreach efforts. This led to more than 15,000 people attending CPR and AED courses from April last year to March this year. This was a nearly 80 per cent increase from the same period the previous year, said the foundation's chairman Tan Huay Cheem. "To use a defibrillator and to administer shock sounds really daunting to most people, but actually the machine can self-scan … it's kind of an idiot-proof sort of device where you can learn very quickly as long as you follow the instructions,' Professor Tan added. 'We want to encourage people to learn both CPR as well as AED, because (with this) combination, you can reduce the chance of mortality by more than 50 per cent in some of these patients.' MORE AEDS ISLANDWIDE Beyond training, the foundation is pushing for more AEDs to be installed islandwide, including in private buildings. One AED is installed in the lift lobby of every two Housing Board blocks. Each unit costs about S$2,000, with about 12,000 units currently accessible across the country. Prof Tan noted that the foundation also emphasises prevention through education – not just with adults but also at the school level with young children. 'While the disease affects mainly the elderly population, it is not to say that heart attack cannot occur in a younger person,' he said. Mr Mercado said that after suffering two heart attacks, he now wants to correct such misconceptions and remind people to be vigilant. "I thought heart attacks will only happen to people in their 50s or 60s and to old people, not me, right? And so that is something that I know I only have two choices about. One is - I don't do anything. I just cry about it. Or, I pick myself up,' he added. 'And with that grit and determination, and looking at my family, I know I have to do something about it, and so that is a turning point in my life to carry forward.'
