BRITISH HEART FOUNDATION SUPPORTER DAY

Alison Meadows and Pat Scott attended the British Heart Foundation supporter day on 4th July at University of Manchester.

AMTD have been keen supporters of the work of the British Heart Foundation since the start of the business 10 years ago!

On Tues Alison and Pat attended talks by BHF Professor of Cardio Vascular Medicine Bernard Keavney and Professor of Cardiac Physiology David Eisner.

Professor Keavney’s research focuses on how differences in the genes we inherit from our parents increase our risk of heart and circulatory diseases. Knowledge gained the study by Professor Keaveny and his team may enable us to devise ways to reduce the frequency of congenital heart disease.

Professor Eisner and his team are investigating how calcium regulation works in the heart and what happens when it goes wrong. When a heart attack occurs the heart is deprived of blood. Restoring blood is essential but this can cause a release of calcium into the heart cells leading to irregular heart beats. ( arrhythmias) The damage sustained by the heart during a heart attack can lead to heart failure. If the workload of the heart increases it can become enlarged which can lead to arrhythmias which if excessive can lead to heart failure.

We also heard from a brave and lovely young lady speaking about her own battle with a heart condition which has substantially affected her life.

Following lunch we had the privilege to tour the labs and speak to four incredible people involved in the research. Dr Donna Page is working with Zebra fish embryos to study congenital heart disease. Dr Alicia D’Souza is looking at the effect of excessive training in elite athletes and the range of heart rhythm disturbances that this training can cause. Dr David Hutchings is looking at understanding how patients develop life threatening heart rhythms and identifying some novel treatments ( Viagra ! ) to prevent their onset ! Dr Gennadiy Tenin is studying Congenital heart diseases and how to reduce this through DNA sequencing !

It was a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable and humbling day . Thank you to all the organisers at the BHF and the incredible people who dedicate their working lives to research to transform the lives of tens of millions of people with cardiovascular disease.

THANK YOU