Charity in heart failure campaign

Sep 24 2012

The majority of Scots are unaware of the impact of heart failure despite almost 70,000 people in the country living with the condition, according to a charity.

A survey from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) revealed more than a third (37%) incorrectly believe heart failure means that your heart stopped working.

The charity is now appealing for funds to pay for cutting-edge research examining severe heart failure - a condition most commonly caused by a heart attack.

The BHF said medical advances mean more people are surviving heart attacks but they cause permanent damage to the heart muscle that can leave people with heart failure - for which there is currently no cure.

Launching its Mending Broken Hearts appeal, it said stem cell research and developmental biology could work out how to repair or replace damaged heart muscle.

BHF medical director Professor Peter Weissberg said: "More and more people are surviving heart attacks due to the huge advances we've made in cardiology, but that isn't the end of the story.

"A heart attack causes damage which can leave a person facing a horrendous daily struggle. We believe a cure for heart failure is a goal we can achieve. We want to advance the science so that when someone has a heart attack, doctors have the tools to help repair the heart.

"What we need now is for the public to help us fund this research and take it from the laboratory bench to the hospital bedside."

The BHF said more than 750,000 people in the UK are living with heart failure, including 69,100 in Scotland.

The charity also hopes to challenge common misconceptions about the condition after research showed 79% of those surveyed are oblivious to the impact it has on patients. A campaign, part of the overall appeal, uses the image of a drowning man to illustrate how severe heart failure can cause lungs to fill with fluid, leaving sufferers struggling to breathe.