750,000 people in the South West living with heart and circulatory disease
The British Heart Foundation are highlighting hidden heart conditions this month
Heart and circulatory disease cause 1,300 deaths in the South West each month – according to research by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
The charity is running its Spotlight campaign through September to raise awareness of hidden heart conditions.
Senior Cardiac Nurse from the charity, Chloe MacArthur, says we need to be aware of the risks.
“It can affect any of us, at any age, regardless of our gender. Part of managing that risk and tackling it, is research and getting better at detecting, understanding risk factors better and getting better with treatments.
“But it all starts from being aware of it all in the first place.”
Chloe told us that there are risk factors we can change, such as knowing our numbers, blood pressure and cholesterol.
She also said that we can manage parts of our lifestyle by keeping a healthy diet and staying active, but there are risks we can’t change.
“They’re usually things like our sex, our age, our gender, our ethnic heritage, so it’s always worth knowing your family history.”
Chloe added that some conditions are hidden, such as congenital disease, a problem we can be born with and not know there’s a problem for some time.
The charity’s research found there are around 3,500 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in the South West, with one in 10 people surviving.
Chloe explained to us the difference between a cardiac arrest and a heart attack.
“A heart-attack is a blockage in an artery, that person is likely to be awake and breathing.
“A cardiac arrest, that person will be unconscious and not breathing. You need to start CPR as soon as possible.”
In both cases, we are told to call 999.
Funding 'vital' for research
BHF’s spotlight campaign aims to raise the profile of hidden heart conditions and the urgent need to fund life-saving research.
The charity says we can be part of breakthroughs that can outsmart heart diseases for good.
Chloe said: “We want to make people aware of how common they can be and how serious they can be.
“But also to help us highlight research and how important it is for treating and tackling these conditions. And that all starts with raising these vital funds to continue the research.”