The patient: Ian Thomson
Ian Thomson,
73, a retired policeman, was diagnosed with high blood pressure in
his early 60s. He had a heart bypass aged 69. He lives with his
wife Barbara in Banstead, Surrey.
I was diagnosed with hypertension and high cholesterol in my early 60s. I had to
take medication to help lower both, though I felt fine and had no
symptoms at all. I also followed my doctor’s
advice and took up regular exercise, mainly in the form of golf as I
enjoy the game and chatting with friends between play. I knew it
was important to keep taking the medicines but I never really
expected to develop heart disease.
Then one Saturday on the golf course I had a chest
pain, and I started sweating and felt very weak. So I
stopped playing, had a sit down and went home.
On Monday morning, I went to see my GP who sent me to the
hospital for tests, which revealed that I’d had a small heart attack – this was a big
shock to me. I’d been having chest pain on and off for
some time but thought I was just overdoing it so it didn’t occur to
me to tell the doctor about it.
I’d been having chest pain for some time but thought I was just overdoing it
An
angiogram revealed that my
coronary arteries were narrowed so my heart could
no longer cope with exercise and I needed
bypass surgery to improve the blood supply
to my heart.
I still take medicines, more now than before
the surgery, but I know I was lucky that it was caught before
things got any worse. Now I’m back playing golf.
Read our
introduction to high blood pressure
Read about Mark
Caulfield's research into genetic causes of
hypertension
Read about Morris Brown's research into the best
treatments for hypertension
Read about Chris Bulpitt's research into
hypertension in the elderly