This article has been superseded by an updated version. Please see https://www.coastalcardiology.co.uk/congenital-heart-disease-an-overview-2/. You may know I’m a keen Arsenal fan, so whenever a story crops up involving the club I tend to take a look, and so it was this in 2024 with former Gunners mid-fielder Jack Wilshere. He is a British Heart Foundation ambassador, […]

Quick answer: Behaviour-change research points to a few consistent principles: make the habit obvious and visible, make it genuinely appealing to you personally, make it as easy and convenient as possible, and make it feel satisfying once you’ve done it. Add self-forgiveness when you slip up, awareness of how your environment shapes your choices, and […]

Quick answer: Cold exposure increases brown fat and mitochondrial activity, and has clear mental health benefits alongside physical ones. Around 11 minutes of cold exposure per week appears to be the sweet spot — build up gradually, and never go straight into open water alone. The benefits of cold exposure for health and wellbeing are […]

If you haven’t already, check out my video discussing about the biological process of atherosclerosis, or ‘furring-up’ of heart arteries, and demonstrate this using a model. However, as interesting as this is, what patients really want to know is whether or not they have any issues. The good news is that this is now easy […]

This article has been superseded by an updated version. Please see https://www.coastalcardiology.co.uk/heart-rate-variability/. I’ve been into gadgets since I was a child. The complexity of what’s available now would have delighted and amazed my 12 year old self. The amount of data we can have at our disposal is really incredible. Health ‘wearables’ in particular, can […]

Quick answer: A number of commonly prescribed medications — steroids, some anti-psychotics, thiazide diuretics, statins, and beta-blockers — can raise blood sugar. Don’t stop them because of this: the benefits still far outweigh the risk, but it’s worth being aware of, and worth a periodic check if you’re on one of these long-term. Check out […]

Sleep is increasingly recognised as far more important than scientists previously thought. I have heard sleep called ‘the tide that raises all health ships’ and that is with good reason. It positively influences your mood, ability to perform complex tasks, allows your muscles to grow, repairs tissues. It even helps fight infection – in one […]

Quick answer: Not directly on its own — but a specific set of genes that respond to how you live (diet, exercise, sleep) play a major role in how well you age. There’s a lot of interest in tests that claim to estimate your ‘biological age’ from a home saliva kit using DNA methylation — […]

Quick answer: Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (“broken heart syndrome”) is a stress-triggered condition where the heart’s tip temporarily balloons and stops squeezing properly, closely mimicking a heart attack on first presentation — but the coronary arteries are normal, and most people make a full recovery within a couple of months. We all know that stress can impact […]

This article has been superseded by an updated version. Please see https://www.coastalcardiology.co.uk/heart-accessory-pathways/. There are occasionally times when patients crop up and you really need to think that little bit harder to work out what to do, and this case is just such a time. Some heart rhythm disturbances can be fatal, and this particular one […]

Can dementia risk be reduced? Yes — an estimated 40% of dementia cases are linked to modifiable risk factors. The biggest ones are high blood pressure, hearing loss, smoking, physical inactivity, depression, social isolation, excess alcohol, and low cognitive stimulation. This post breaks down what’s actually driving that risk and what you can do about […]

Quick answer: Consistency, not intensity, is what actually changes long-term health — “little and often” beats occasional heroic effort and carries far less injury risk. If you’re trying to build a healthy habit, three things help: make it easy and accessible, write it down, and speak to yourself as kindly as you would to a […]

Quick answer: Broadly, yes — much of Dr Michael Mosley’s advice (swimming, volunteering and the rest of his list) lines up well with the evidence on healthy ageing and healthspan, and with what I recommend to my own patients. A few of his suggestions are worth a small caveat though, covered point by point below. […]

Happy Father’s Day! I’ve had a lovely day: bike ride and some yoga with my daughter, a few holes of golf with my son (who bought be some personalised golf balls with instructions not to lose them!) and will be having a bbq in the sunshine then watching the football. Pretty much a perfect day. […]

Well it really has been an extraordinary week for me! Very occasionally I get offers that are hard to turn down. A few months ago I was asked by a company that make pacemakers (amongst a great many other medical things) if they could show me around their factory and pick my brains. There have […]

You may know I’m a keen Arsenal fan, so whenever a story crops up involving the club I tend to take a look, and so it was this week with former Gunners mid-fielder Jack Wilshere. He is a British Heart Foundation ambassador, having been on a long journey with his young daughter who had surgery […]

I had a great time at last week’s conference in Lisbon. Sat on the flight home, I was reflecting on what were the most enjoyable bits.  I liked the ‘late breaking scientific sessions’, where researchers first let the scientific community know the results of their trials. There’s something about hearing new data, feeling like you […]

Quick answer: A meaningful part of dementia risk is modifiable. Treating blood pressure to a target of 120mmHg (rather than 140) can reduce dementia risk by around 20%, and other levers — treating hearing loss, staying socially connected, regular exercise, avoiding excess alcohol, and good sleep and nutrition — each move the odds further in […]

This article has been folded into a single, updated dementia guide. For the most current version, please see Dementia: what you need to know. For over a decade, scientists have thought that if amyloid protein is the primary problem in dementia, the key to treatment must be drugs which reduce its production or stimulate its […]

This article has been folded into a single, updated dementia guide. For the most current version, please see Dementia: what you need to know. I’m sure by now you will have appreciated that one of the key messages I try to deliver is that lifestyle changes can drastically move the needle on the risk of […]

I hope you’ve been enjoying the sunshine this week? Hasn’t it made a difference?! I expect like many people I’ve taken to the garden, and have been planting plants, cutting grass, and trimming hedges. It’s very satisfying work, and rather nice to be outside and doing something different to my day job. Rather annoyingly however, […]

There are occasionally times when patients crop up and you really need to think that little bit harder to work out what to do, and this case is just such a time. Some heart rhythm disturbances can be fatal, and this particular one can be, but is really rather rare. To help you understand the […]

Quick answer: What matters more than simply living a long time is ‘healthspan’ — the number of years lived in good health. That should guide personal lifestyle choices (exercise remains the single biggest lever), and it also matters in medical decision-making, especially for very elderly or frail patients where doing everything medically possible isn’t always […]