Hand on Heart: an insight into the changing face of cardiovascular care

Heart disease and stroke, collectively known as cardiovascular disease, are the biggest killers in the world today. Innovative treatments for heart disease have revolutionized patient care in the last three decades, reducing deaths, improving patient outcomes and reducing hospital stays. As a result our perception of this disease has altered, with implications for lifestyle change, adherence and self-management.

Clinical practice remains focused on providing cutting edge therapy and interventions, with prevention, risk stratification and supportive care receiving much less attention - yet the reality is cardiovascular disease remains a progressive illness and most treatments are essentially palliative. Unfortunately, the remarkable technical advances in cardiology have not been paralleled with innovations in personalized prevention and supportive care. Despite strong evidence regarding the effectiveness of prevention and rehabilitation, investment is poor, resistance is high and risk factors frequently persist after a cardiac event. Exploring the reasons why and identifying ways to improve are core to this discussion.

Cardiovascular research is prolific in many areas including Northern Ireland, where the Clinical Research Network supports research and brings innovative care to its citizens. However, clinical guidelines synthesising the latest evidence are frequently not implemented in practice. Strategies to more effectively bridge the theory-practice gap will be explored and the enduring challenges in cardiovascular care will be outlined.