Lifestyle
I strongly believe in a whole patient approach to the treatment of atrial fibrillation assessing and advising on improving lifestyle factors that may be contributing to the problem.
I am also a strong advocate of a healthy lifestyle in order to prevent the development of heart problems and can provide a detailed assessment including risk factor identification and health improvement strategies for:
Risk factor control
Ensuring control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol can significantly reduce your risk of future problems including heart attacks, strokes and other significant health problems. I can give you a personalised risk assessment and work with you to control high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other risk factors for heart disease.
Weight management
Maintaining a healthy weight reduces the risk of many health problems including heart attacks, atrial fibrillation and high blood pressure. In addition many patients who already have these conditions and are overweight find that control or treatment of their condition is easier if they can lose weight. Many patients find this area particularly hard and don’t know where to start.
They may have tried many commercially available diets and found them to be unsustainable or ineffective for them. I work with you to plan a personalised strategy that will allow you to lose weight in a healthy way but also maintain a healthy weight once it has been achieved.
Sleep apnoea
Sleep apnoea is a common condition that can be associated with atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure and general fatigue. As patients can be chronically tired, they tend to become less active, lose fitness, put on weight which can lead to a vicious circle worsening the sleep apnoea and the associated health conditions. This may also may health problems such as atrial fibrillation or high blood pressure more difficult to treat.
This condition can affect women as well as men and is often unrecognised. It can be easily diagnosed by a sleep study performed in the comfort of your own home. I use some of the very latest cutting edge technology to perform the sleep test which makes it much easier to tolerate than some of the older more traditional tests often still performed in NHS facilities. Patients report that they get a much more “normal” night’s sleep when wearing our monitor, giving a better assessment of what happens on a nightly basis.
A sleep study can be ordered directly from this site, and is delivered directly to your home.
Exercise
Exercise has been shown to be beneficial to almost all health problems, especially with regard to the heart. Exercise takes many forms and not everyone enjoys the same things. Whether it be the gym, running, cycling, yoga or anything else I can advise regarding embarking on exercise or developing further. For athletes with heart conditions I can work with you aiming to allow you to get back to what you love doing.
Using an individualised approach which takes into account any underlying cardiac and health problems I will work with you to introduce or progress with your exercise to achieve your health, lifestyle or competition goals.