September 24, 2012
Over three quarters of the UK oblivious to terrifying impact of
severe heart failure
We’ve launched a new campaign today, as part of our Mending
Broken Hearts Appeal, which highlights the horrifying effects of
severe heart failure.
Despite over 750,000 people living with heart failure in the UK,
we’ve found that over three quarters of people are unaware of the
condition and the terrifying impact it can have.
Severe heart failure can cause people’s lungs to fill with fluid, leaving them struggling to breathe.
Our survey revealed
that
a third of people thought that
heart failuremeant your heart stopped
working, when in fact the heart still beats but
cannot pump
properly. Our new campaign aims to challenge these
misconceptions by using the image of
a
drowning manto
illustrate how severe heart failure can cause people’s lungs to
fill with fluid, leaving them
struggling to
breathe. People living with heart failure often face a
prolonged sentence of suffering, where every day can be a
struggle.
Hearts can’t repair themselves after a
heart attack. But, we believe that there
is hope for a cure. Our Mending Broken Hearts Appealis looking for support across
the UK to fund regenerative medicine research which could
repair hearts damaged by heart attack and cure
heart failure.
Our Medical Director, Professor Peter
Weissberg, said:
“More and more people are surviving heart
attacks due to the huge advances we’ve made in cardiology, but that
isn’t the end of the story. A heart attack causes
damage which can leave a person facing a horrendous daily
struggle.
“We believe a cure for heart failure is a goal
we can achieve. We want to advance the science so
that when someone has a heart attack, doctors have the tools to
help repair the heart. What we need now is for the public to
help us fund this research and take it from the
laboratory bench to the hospital bedside.”
Without your donations, we can’t make our goal
of finding a cure for heart failure into a reality. Please donate to our Mending Broken Hearts
Appeal to help bring hope to millions worldwide.
Find out what it’s like to live with severe
heart failure here.