Stress is the ‘silent killer’, London Heart Unit offers latest cardiac diagnostics

Intriguing data published in November 2009 suggests that “stressRelating to injury or concern.” is an important factor in the development of silent heart disease. Professor Avijit Lahiri, founder of the Cardiac Imaging and Research Trust, has written an article for totalhealth that explains all the latest trial data in cardiology, what it means and the best way to get any heart disease properly diagnosed.

Coronary arteryA blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart. Apart from the pulmonary artery and umbilical artery, all arteries carry oxygenated blood. disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of death in the United Kingdom, killing approx 90,000 people every year, it is also the most important factor contributing to the number of years of life lost before the age of 65.

There have been tremendous improvements in our knowledge of the underlying process of cardiovascular diseaseDisease of the heart and blood vessels, usually due to atherosclerosis. (CVD), but unfortunately 30%  of people who have  a heart attackThe death of a section of heart muscle caused by an interruption in its blood supply. Also called a myocardial infarction. don’t survive therefore early detection is critically important.  Early detection is confounded by the fact that almost 80% of the patients have had “silent” heart disease for many years.

The Latest in Cardiac Diagnostics

The technology in this area is changing rapidly and so far The Cardiac Imaging Centre (CIRC) is only centre in London with the latest scanners that are currently acknowledged to be the state-of-the-art requirements for efficient, accurate and early diagnosisThe process of determining which condition a patient may have. of heart disease.

For those people interested in the technology, the scanners are called:

Dual-source ultra-fast CTThe abbreviation for computed tomography, a scan that generates a series of cross-sectional x-ray images scanner (Definition), combined with the hybrid CT+Gamma Camera (SPECTAn abbreviation for single photon emission computerised tomography, an imaging technique that uses a radioactive tracer and a gamma camera.-CT) (Symbia T6), 4D- Echocardiography.

This is now generally acknowledged as the latest state-of-the-art technology for diagnosing heart disease.

For a full description, please see Diagnosing and Treating Heart Disease.