Roadshow finds people at risk of heart disease

Hearty Lives nurses Sarah McStay, Christine Reade and Ngarie Smith

Forty-one people were found to be at high risk of having a heart attack or stroke as part of a heart health roadshow held in the borough of Rochdale.

The borough’s Hearty Lives Cardiovascular Specialist Nurses travelled around the borough over three days to talk to people about their health and lifestyle and check for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

The nurses gave assessments to 68 people and 60% were recommended to go and see their doctor because they were at increased risk of having a heart attack or suffering a stroke.

The nurses work as part of a joint project between the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale called Hearty Lives.

Christine Reade, one of the Cardiovascular Nurses, said: “The roadshow is a great way for us to get out into the community to see people who don’t regularly access health services or see their GP for a check up. Whilst some of the people we spoke to were healthy and weren’t at risk of developing heart disease, we did see a concerning number of people who were already at increased risk or who could soon end up in the danger zone.

“The key to keeping your heart healthy is to lead a healthy and active lifestyle by not smoking, having a healthy weight and having low blood pressure and cholesterol. We know that some people find it difficult to do some of these things and so we are able to provide advice and support so that you can make some healthy lifestyle changes.”

Heart disease is one of the Rochdale borough’s biggest killers. More people die in Rochdale from heart disease than anything else - Men are 56 per cent more likely to die early from coronary heart disease than the national average for England and Wales, and women are 84 per cent likely to die early.

Hearty Lives is a national programme by the BHF that aims to improve the heart health and lifestyle of people so that they can live longer and healthier lives.

The Hearty Lives project within Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale is the only Hearty Lives project in the North West. As part of the programme three specialist nurses have been appointed through BHF funding to work in the community with people who are at a high risk of having a heart attack or stroke to improve their health, as well as people who have already had heart problems to reduce the chances of it happening again.