Research & Development |
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Super Rehab
Cardiovascular disease causes over a quarter of all deaths per year in the UK, ending lives too soon and having a negative impact on the quality of life of many more. Research has been heavily focused on finding new medications, procedures and devices to address this.
However, for many of our patients the health concerns and heart disease they are facing results from issues that have developed around the modern lifestyle. Rather than the escalating “medicalisation” of our patients with more tablets and procedures to treat the combinations of illnesses that often group together as a result of lifestyle issues, we want to try a new approach.
Changes to diet and exercise have already been proven to be effective in improving conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, reducing the need for medications and in some cases resolving diseases completely.
Initial evidence suggests that lifestyle interventions can have the same positive results for people with advanced heart conditions. This includes coronary artery disease (the “furring up” of the heart’s own blood supply) and atrial fibrillation (the most common heart rhythm disturbance causing palpitations and breathlessness), which is the largest cause of strokes.
Our Cardiovascular research team are aiming to uncover how a novel lifestyle intervention, Super Rehab, could become an effective treatment option within the NHS, saving lives, reducing procedures and costs for our health service.
So...What is "Super Rehab"?
Lifestyle pathways delivered by healthcare specialists who support patients through significant behavioural changes are already proven effective treatments for high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.
Super Rehab will now test the impact of high-level, well-resourced one-to-one support programme for patients with heart disease. Super Rehab will offer more than just advice, it will provide a tailored diet and exercise programme personalised to the individual with support to make sure the changes are practical and can become part of daily routine. Our experts have already seen that this approach can be life-changing and so would like to see it become part of normal cardiac services. Super Rehab is also being offered to patients earlier in the evolution of their forms of heart disease than other rehab programmes, aiming to halt its progression to poor outcomes, help patients feel better, and potentially even reverse the disease process and turn the clock back.
Watch this short video to hear directly from our research team and meet Andy, a patient who has had experience of working with an early form of Super Rehab to treat his heart disease:
Research Studies
The research is starting with two studies, one for coronary heart disease and one for atrial fibrillation, involving just under 100 patients across both studies. Patients will be offered Super Rehab in addition to standard treatments, and the research team will track the impact using imaging, heart rhythm, blood tests and fitness tests.