I gave up riding my bike about 5 years ago when I couldn't walk, let alone cycle, more than a few metres. GPs failed to diagnose my symptoms over a period of 2 years.
But I'm so glad that the Peugeot bike didn't go. It remained loyally there, just in case it would be recalled. And it was.
For some weeks Peugeot has replaced Angina and we've gone to some interesting, local, places.
It's now an every day event. Fingers crossed, it will continue.
One of the heroes in the long running soap, Charlie, was clutching his chest a lot in Saturday's episode. He knows everything about medicine and he and Tess should run the NHS. We'd save a lot.
Charlie tests himself, apparently, messes up his shift which causes colleagues to think he's past it and then calls the Prof, Elliot Hope, who was last seen wandering off in Holby City, with his dog, in high dudgeon, because Jac had been given overall charge of Darwin and the Herzig, Elliot's brainchild. Keeping up?
Charlie then sees the nice old Elliot who tells him all is well and that he's had a 'touch' of angina. Charlie can go back to work.
Now, I know it's a soap but it is a medical soap and I would have thought that the script writers could have done better with their research.
In the episode, Charlie suffers what looked like angina when at rest. That's unstable angina and requires treatment after a proper evaluation.
IMHO angina is a symptom, not a condition, and you don't have a touch of it..... The series should be called Travesty.....
What do you think though?
Charlie
Well I hope you can and I'm working on it!
Here's a PDF which explains the idea.
I welcome feedback......
I hadn't heard about the endothelium until a year or so ago. It doesn't sound like something that's terribly interesting which is a shame because it does appear that if we understood what it does then we could devise better strategies for the prevention of heart disease and management of existing conditions. Wow, that was a mouthful!
It also appears that a proper, regular exercise plan will be beneficial. No surprise there then. Here's a link which you may find useful.
http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Heart-Disease-and-Exercise.htm
Angina patients get a rough deal. While people who have stents and by-passes are offered support from Cardiac Rehab Units, most angina patients have to manage on medication, just medication.
A couple of weeks ago, after our local Rehab Unit pulled the plug on the partial funding we got for our Fitness Group, I was ecstatic. Well for a week.
Firstly, the Group was saved by our paying for it to continue. Secondly, we persuaded the organisers to allow stable angina patients to join.
And that was fantastic news.
The catch? Well, they had to get a form filled in by their GP.
GPs in our area don't know of of our Group.
So we put a blog together, with forms that GPs need and other helpful information.
The reason we were given for the withdrawal of funding was that attendance was insufficient for the Group to be viable.
Now it appears that we are still not listed by the British Heart Foundation who have a helpful service enabling heart patients to find exercise groups.
There's little or no material available so GPs can be informed and no action appears to be taking place about telling GPs about the facility.
No local professional has bothered to look at the blog, let alone contribute to it.
But somewhere boxes are being ticked. If the service is withdrawn patients will be blamed. Patients who desperately need this service and who don't know about it. Nor do their GPs....