Save A Life ~ Your Own
Heart disease is the
biggest killer in the UK.
It causes 25% of all adult deaths.
That's more than 160,000 deaths
every single year.
And yet the vast majority of these
deaths are preventable.
Let's start with a very important point - each of the 160,000 deaths a year is tragic in itself, but there's much worse to come. Because, for every single person who dies as a result of a heart attack or stroke, at least five will survive. And in many cases their quality of life will be greatly reduced.
This can have truly devastating effects on the entire family - even in merely material terms, there can be loss of earning power, and the practical problems of providing suitable care. It's also important to be aware that current figures show that women over the age of fifty are almost as likely as men to suffer heart attacks.
Of course, we all know the standard advice about minimising risk - a healthy diet, regular exercise, avoiding smoking, drinking and sedentary or stressful jobs. The advice may be well-intentioned, but the fact that heart disease continues to be the biggest single cause of death and serious disability strongly suggests that the advice simply isn't working.
Northlands' Cardiac Care takes a very different approach. We're all in favour of a low-risk lifestyle, but we recognise that this just isn't practical for everybody. So we use proven preventative treatments to reduce the risk of heart attacks by more than 30%, and without changing your lifestyle.
There are three main types of preventative treatments that we recommend: statins, ACE inhibitors and TRT.
Here's how these preventative treatments work (and we have to get a little 'techy' on this). Most heart disease isn't directly caused by the heart itself, but by the arteries that carry blood round our bodies. If these arteries become narrowed or damaged, it becomes more difficult for the heart to do its job.
Statins - these help control the level of cholesterol in our blood. Cholesterol is often associated with fatty foods, but what's far more important is that our livers actually make cholesterol irrespective of what food we eat. This is good, because we need cholesterol to maintain cells throughout our bodies. But it isn't good if too much is made, because this can lead to artery damage and narrowing. Statins help maintain a healthy cholesterol level.
Although statins have been proven highly effective in managing cholesterol for most people, there are a few cases where their beneficial effects can be dramatically increased by also prescribing what are known as cholesterol absorption inhibitors (such as Ezetrol).
ACE inhibitors - ACE is the name given to angiotensin-converting enzymes. In plain English, we're talking about blood pressure. ACEs - which our kidneys produce naturally - narrow blood vessels and raise blood pressure. ACE inhibitors widen the vessels and help maintain a healthy blood pressure. Both of these make it easier for the heart to do its job, and so reduce the risk of heart attacks.
TRT - testosterone is widely associated with the male sex drive, but in fact it provides many health benefits for both men and women. Testosterone levels start to fall during our thirties and forties, and TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), can significantly reduce blood pressure, improve bone condition, and even aid weight loss.
These preventative treatments have been widely used in many countries for several years now, and studies show that the benefits have been dramatic. Here in the UK, NHS policy makes it almost impossible to obtain them unless you've already had a heart attack or stroke (perhaps a case of bolting the stable door a little late in the day?), or if you appear almost certain to have one in the very near future.
One of the great practical advantages of all these treatments is that they are simply taken as one-a-day pills. And, as we said above, they achieve these health benefits without changing your lifestyle.
CARDIAC CARE IN PRACTICE
Our programme starts with a thorough and personalised health screening. This enables us to establish which of these preventative treatments are most appropriate for each individual. For example, if blood pressure isn't unduly high, we won't recommend ACE inhibitors. And statins are not suitable for people with significant existing liver problems. It's also entirely possible that, by combining the results of this screening with your family and personal health history, we will recommend that there's no need for any preventative treatments at all.
Personalised health screening is vital to ensure that we fully understand each client's 'risk profile', and the nature of the risks they are most likely to face, so that we only prescribe responsibly. That's also why, for some Cardiac Care clients, we recommend a six-monthly checkup to monitor and optimise risk reduction progress - for example by adjusting dosages or changes in the treatments used.
The cost - our initial health screening, including all blood tests and full ECGs, costs just £150. And preventative treatment can cost as little as £1 a day. We passionately believe that this is a small price to pay for the proven benefits of effective cardiac care - after all, you only have one heart.
Please contact us for further details and with ANY questions you may have.
CORPORATE CARDIAC CARE
It's not only individuals and their families that suffer as a result of heart disease - the loss of a key employee can cripple an entire company. We now offer corporate Cardiac Care plans that provide highly effective (and highly cost-effective), risk reduction. These plans are flexibly created to suit the needs of each client company. And in addition to the obvious direct benefits to the individual, their families and the company itself, providing Cardiac Care can be a valuable aid to employee retention. Please contact us for more information and to discuss your company's needs.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Research - there have been many long-term and large-scale studies proving the effectiveness of both statins and ACE inhibitors. Two of the best-known are WOSCOPS (statins), and HOPE (ACE inhibitors). Please contact us if you would like more information about these and other studies.
Please note - Cardiac Care's preventative treatments should not be confused with the common recommendation to take half an aspirin a day - all the available research shows that while aspirin can be highly effective after someone has had a heart attack or stroke, it is at best of only very marginal benefit as a preventative, and long-term use can actually cause health problems.
Northlands' Cardiac Care is also available as part of our Total Health Care package.
Cardiac Care ~ The BEST Of Health