In this week’s blog, Nick Hartshorne-Evans looks at understanding high blood pressure and heart failure

Hello, I’m Nick

High blood pressure - also known as hypertension - is one of the leading causes of heart failure. When your blood pressure stays high over time, your heart has to work harder to push blood around your body. That constant strain can eventually weaken and stiffen your heart muscle. Over time, this can lead to heart failure - a serious condition where the heart doesn’t pump blood as well as it should.

At the Pumping Marvellous Foundation, we’re passionate about changing that. As the UK’s heart failure charity, we’ve launched a national campaign called BEAT HF to raise awareness about heart failure - a condition that affects around one million people in the UK, with over 200,000 new cases diagnosed every year.

The campaign has three key parts:

• Raising awareness - we’re working hard to make sure more people, including GPs and non-specialist healthcare professionals, can spot the early signs of heart failure. Early recognition is crucial, especially in primary care.
• Offering public heart health events - at these events, we offer free consultations that include blood pressure checks and enhanced pulse checks to spot atrial fibrillation. If someone shows signs of heart failure based on the BEAT symptoms, we provide a point-of-care blood test (NT-proBNP) right there. If that test suggests heart failure, we follow up with an echocardiogram to confirm the diagnosis. You can find more about this on the JACC pages
• BEAT to TREAT clinics - these specialist clinics aim to diagnose and begin treatment for heart failure within just 60 minutes of a person walking through the door. It’s a model that could dramatically speed up diagnosis if rolled out more widely. Check out the inspiring work in the Everton in the community project

We’re also proud to be working with the Heart Failure Academy in Yorkshire and Humber, helping to roll out the BEAT campaign in partnership with integrated care boards (ICBs), Health Innovation Yorkshire and local healthcare professionals. We’ve already distributed BEAT symptom posters and our popular symptom checkers to every GP surgery across the three Yorkshire ICBs. These resources help patients recognise symptoms and take control of their heart health.

So how can you spot the signs of heart failure early? That’s where BEAT comes in. BEAT is an easy way to remember four key symptoms:

• Breathlessness - struggling for breath during normal activities or when lying flat
• Exhaustion - feeling unusually tired, even after rest
• Ankle swelling - noticing swelling in your ankles, legs or belly
• Time to speak to your GP or nurse

If any of these symptoms sound familiar, don’t ignore them. Talk to your healthcare provider. The sooner you get help, the better the outcome. Early diagnosis and treatment can make a huge difference - helping you feel better, stay active and protect your heart from further damage.

To learn more about our work and how we’re making a difference, visit: www.pumpingmarvellous.org or www.beathf.org.uk.

And don’t forget - May is Measure Month, a global initiative to raise awareness of high blood pressure. It’s the perfect time to get your blood pressure checked. A simple test could make a big difference to your heart health.

Thanks for reading,
Nick