Pumping Marvellous

Revolutionary Treatment for Heart Failure

This is a truly amazing breakthrough in removing fluid from patients – this is maybe one of the most revolutionary breakthroughs in HF treatment – You need to listen to this http://soundcloud.com/pumping-marvellous/bbc

DNAplays a part in immune system reaction to Heart Failure

British Heart Foundation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

DNA from a person’s own heart can play a significant part in heart failure by wrongly activating the immune response. A study co-funded by the British Heart Foundation and carried out by researchers in the UK and Japan found that in some people with this DNA the immune response is triggered during heart failure. This causes inflammation which makes the heart muscles less effective and reduces the ability to pump blood around the body.
The study, published by the journal Nature, found that the immune system is triggered by the release of DNA from the energy-generating structures in heart cells called mitochondria. Mitochondria evolved billions of years from bacteria and now share a similar DNA footprint, often causing a mistaken response from the immune system which recognises it as bacteria. “This intriguing discovery is an important breakthrough in our understanding of why, during heart failure, the immune system becomes activated without the presence of any obvious external threat,” Dr Shannon Amoils, research advisor at the BHF said.

British Red Cross First Aid Training

Pumping Marvellous has teamed up with the British Red Cross to train Heart Failure patients and their Carers on basic First Aid techniques that are pertinent to their conditions. Below you will see Jason who is the Pumping Marvellous Tai Chi instructor refreshing his First Aid Training and a Heart Failure patient learning CPR.

Giving CPR

CPR and Defib training

A sudden drop in blood pressure caused by moving from lying down to standing has been linked to a higher risk of heart failure, a condition where the organ does not pump with sufficient force. There are around 750,000 sufferers of heart failure in Britain and symptoms can include swollen ankles, breathlessness and fatigue. Reachers at the University of North Carolina found a link between people who feel light headed when they stand up, known orthostatic hypotension and heart failure, especially those aged between 45 and 55 years compared with older people. The results were published in the journal Hypertension. Blood pressure was taken from 12,363 healthy adults when lying down and shortly after standing up and patients were followed up for an average of 17 years.

In that time around 11% of people who developed heart failure, had orthostatic hypotension compared with 4% who did not have the problem.

It was calculated that people with orthostatic hypotension were 54% more likely to develop heart failure than those without. Once other factors that can cause heart failure, including high blood pressure, were accounted for, the increased risk was around one third.

Dr Christine DeLong Jones, lead author said: “Orthostatic hypotension   appears to be related to the development of heart failure along with other conditions known to cause heart failure.

“Hypertension, diabetes and coronary heart disease are already known to   contribute to a person’s risk of developing heart failure. Orthostatic blood pressure measurement may supplement what is already known about the risk for heart failure and requires no additional equipment, just a standard blood   pressure cuff.”

Listen to Pumping Marvellous on the BBC iPlayer

If you missed our Chair Nick talk about the new “Heart school” project then this is your chance to listen again. The programmes were broadcast over the BBC Asian Network and Radio Lancashire.

BBC Asian Network UK wide - Presenter – Rozina Sini – Reporter Rahila Bano – Click here to listen  go to 4mins 40secs for the start

BBC Radio Lancashire – Presenter – Graham Liver - Reporter Rahila Bano – Click here to listen go to 1hour 47mins 20secs for the start

Healthy food for your Heart

Pictures from our Heart Day Event in Blackburn

Eat Well Plate

Children at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School Exercising with the Blackburn Health Team

Children listening to their Heart

The Pumping Marvellous treatment…

A fitting crescendo to Heart Month

Pumping Marvellous are very focused around children and young people getting the right education on healthy lifestyles and delivering in a way they enjoy and learn but also having big fun doing it. That’s why we have just added a new “string to our bow” for the charity called Heart Stars, this is still in development but will be ready to launch very soon headed up by a very special young lady Mirren Terry. Coming to your screens as promised!

In our commitment to ensuring children and young people start their lives with the best possible education we have teamed up with on Wednesday 29th February 2012 the East Lancashire Hospital Trusts Heart Failure Nursing Team under the direction of Angela Graves and the Blackburn with Darwen Health Teams under the direction of Mark Campbell to have a day of fun filled education with the children of the Infants and Juniors of The Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Blackburn. We will be educating the children about the Heart and its function, exercise and it’s impact on the heart and the importance of healthy food.

Not only will the children be actively involved all day they will also have some homework pre the event which will include the infants trying to name 10 correct fruit and vegeatable which they will learn before their fun filled day and the juniors answering a questionnaire on how much they know about the heart and the affects of nutrition and exercise. Whilst answering the questions both the infants and juniors will gather sponsorships which will be based on how many they can get correct by the 29th February 2012.
Mums or Dads can also win a full week of juice detox from Soulmatefood one of our corporate sponsors.

Collections on the day will go to the “Heart of Blackburn” 3D scanner appeal. Monies collected through the sponsorship forms will go to your local Heart Failure Chairty Pumping Marvellous.

The Engine Room – The Heart

A person’s heart rate, also known as their pulse, refers to how many times their heart beats per minute. Our heart rates vary tremendously, depending on the demands we make on our bodies – a person who is sleeping will have a much lower heart rate compared to when he/she is doing exercise.
There is a technical difference between heart rate and pulse, although they both should come up with the same number:

• Heart rate- how many times the heart beats in a unit of time, nearly always per minute. The number of contractions of the lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles).
• Pulse (pulse rate) – as the blood gushes through the artery from a heart beat, it creates a bulge in the artery. The rate at which the artery bulges can be measured by touching it with your fingers, as on the wrist or neck.

So what is your resting Heart Rate

For a human aged 18 or more years, a normal resting heart rate can be anything between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Usually the healthier or fitter you are, the lower your rate. A competitive athlete may have a resting heart rate as low as 40 beats per minute.
Champion cyclist, Lance Armstrong has had a resting heart rate of about 32 beats per minute (bpm). Fellow cyclist Miguel Indurain once had a resting heart rate of 29 bpm.
According to the NHS the following are ideal normal pulse rates at rest, in bpm (beats per minute):

• Newborn baby – 120 to 160
• Baby aged from 1 to 12 months – 80 to 140
• Baby/toddler aged from 1 to 2 years – 80 to 130
• Toddler/young child aged 2 to 6 years – 75 to 120
• Child aged 7 to 12 years – 75 to 110
• Adult aged 18+ years – 60 to 100
• Adult athlete – 40 to 60

Measuring your own Heart Rate

Although their are numerous areas you can measure your Heart Rate these are the two most common -

• The wrist (the radial artery) – place the palm of your hand facing upward. Place two fingers on the thumb side of your wrist gently, you will sense your pulse beating there. Either count them for up to one minute, or thirty seconds and then multiply by two. Counting for 15 seconds and then multiplying by four is less accurate. It is also possible to test the pulse by touching the other side of the wrist, where the ulnar artery is.
• The neck (the carotid artery) – place the index and third fingers on the neck, next to your windpipe. When you feel your pulse, either count for the whole sixty seconds, or do it in a 30 or 15 second spell and multiply by two or four.