Case for Regular Screening

Heart and related circulatory diseases are a major killer causing one in three of all deaths in the United Kingdom. A few statistics illustrate the size of the problem.

• 124,000 people have a heart attack in UK each year and someone dies every six minutes
• 191,000 people in UK die from heart and circulatory diseases each year
• Men are more likely to have heart attacks - 61% of those who suffer a heart attack in England each year are men but women are not far behind at 39%
• More British women die from heart disease than from other disorders such as breast cancer

Guernsey fortunately has a lower rate than England, but is still higher than some other western countries.

Whilst this is an unhappy picture, the encouraging feature is that most of us can take some action to reduce the risk of heart disease. The main risk factors are smoking, high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol levels. Other risks include a family history of heart attacks, being overweight, lack of exercise and high stress levels.

Reducing the risk of heart disease depends upon identifying your risk factors and then taking remedial action. Our screening and blood pressure check programmes have exactly these goals in mind.

We also screen for Diabetes Mellitus, which is a known risk factor for heart disease, and do breathing tests to exclude breathing disorders, particularly those associated with smoking.