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“I didn’t understand how I could be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when I was a fit and active 42-year-old"
Len Drane, from Treharris, thought he was a fit and healthy, rugby-playing, father-of-three when he had a heart attack playing golf in 2004.
“I felt slight pressure in my chest as we were going round the course, but I thought that was my excitement to beat my colleagues!” The pressure in his chest built as Len played and became too much. “I just remember becoming incredibly thirsty and felt I needed to sit down suddenly.” Len’s colleagues quickly realised he needed help, and he was rushed to hospital.
He was taken to Caerphilly Miners' hospital, where he spent a few days receiving treatment. “At 42 years old, people didn’t initially think it was a heart attack, but my tests confirmed it and it had been very severe.” Len then transferred to Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales and was fitted with a stent to help improve the blood supply to his heart.
After his heart attack, Len was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. “I started changing my diet and getting back into exercising. I had to take small steps as I was still in shock about what had happened.” Len researched his conditions and talked to experts, which helped him start new healthy habits and create a diet plan.
Len has now retired and enjoys travelling and spending time with his grandchildren. “I can go anywhere in the world now and I don’t want my diabetes and high cholesterol to stop me.”
Len has now retired and enjoys travelling and spending time with his grandchildren. “I can go anywhere in the world now and I don’t want my diabetes and high cholesterol to stop me.”
Could a new drug help diabetic patients recover after a heart attack?
Dr Lisa Heather and her team at the University of Oxford have identified a drug that could ultimately help improve heart function in people with diabetes who have heart attacks.
Heart and circulatory disease is the leading cause of death in people with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is a common condition that causes the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood to become too high. When you have Type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin (which breaks down your sugars), or your body doesn’t use the insulin it makes properly.
During a heart attack blood supply to the heart is reduced, starving the heart cells of oxygen. In patients with diabetes, the heart cells are even less tolerant to the low oxygen levels than normal, and therefore die quicker.
The team in Oxford has found that a new drug can increase levels of a protein that helps cells to adapt and survive after they are starved of oxygen. They hope that giving this drug to patients with diabetes will help their hearts to recover after a heart attack and reduce their risk of further complications, such as heart failure.
Want to hear more from Len Drane and Dr Lisa Heather?
Watch our Live & Ticking event here