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The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has welcomed the government’s proposals to offer health checks to everyone between the age of 40 and 74 in England.

It is though that the tests, which will check for heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, will help to save lives.

Commenting on the plans, Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the BHF, said: "These risk assessments could really help tackle vascular conditions like stroke and heart disease, but will only work if it is backed up by real investment in the support and treatments required by people identified as being at risk."

The government should focus efforts on those at "highest risk", many of whom will be from "deprived and hard to reach" communities, he added.

Announcing the proposals, health secretary Alan Johnson said that that the case for creating a national programme for vascular checks is "compelling".

The minister claimed that 6,500 heart attacks and strokes could be prevented each year, potentially saving 2,000 lives.

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The development of heart disease in humans has been linked to risk associated with lupus.

According to the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA), the autoimmune disease affects the immune system’s ability to differentiate between foreign agents such as viruses and the body’s own cells, meaning that auto-antibodies created by the human immune system consequently attack healthy tissue.

Life insurance or critical illness insurance policy holders with the condition may be at increased risk of coronary artery disease, pericarditis, myocarditis and endocarditis, clinical research has suggested.

Women with lupus were found to have an earlier onset of the menopause and have higher levels of harmful blood fats and cholesterol compared to healthy women, LFA revealed.

But other medical factors, such as chronic inflammation, may contribute to an increased risk of coronary heart disease and accelerated atherosclerosis in patients, the group added.

"As a result, researchers suggest that lupus should be considered equivalent to coronary heart disease as a known risk for heart attacks and strokes," LFA stated.

Medical treatments for obesity miss diverting people from what is "fundamentally a social problem", Betty McBride, head of policy and communications at the British Heart Foundation, recently commented.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with heart attack.

The number of people in Scotland who survive heart attacks has risen, according to new figures.

The statistics produced by ISD Scotland show that the 30-day survival rate for people who suffer a heart attack increased by 0.7 per cent between 2005 and 2006, reports the Scotsman.

Those with life insurance policies may also be interested to read that in 2006, some four per cent of people were still alive after surviving a heart attack. In 2006, this figure stood at 81.2 per cent.

Other conditions that were assessed by ISD Scotland were hip fractures and mortality levels connected with planned operations.

Hip fracture deaths remained "fairly stable" between 1998 and 2006 when viewed within the 30-day period after surgery. Mortally for planned operations fell by 0.1 percentage point.

ISD Scotland is the "business operating unit" of NHS National Services Scotland. It states that its "vision of success for the future is to be an essential partner in providing better health and better care for people in Scotland".

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with medical conditions.

A leading medical expert has claimed that obesity plays a leading role in the development of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some forms of cancer.

Dr Rajsekhar Nayak recently set up a clinic in India specifically dealing with obesity and he maintains that surgery is the best option for morbidly obese people.

He points out that diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and degenerative joint disease are all significantly affected by weight and consequently such conditions can be reduced or even reversed by surgery.

Dr Nayak said: "In order to address the malaise of obesity, bariatric (obesity) surgery has emerged as the best suitable option to rid the body of excessive fat."

He added that he had become inspired to develop this kind of centre after patients were being forced to travel extensively for such treatment.

The two most common obesity operations are restrictive surgery which reduces the stomachs size, and malabsorptive surgery which alters the body’s ability to absorb calories, according to Private Healthcare UK.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with medical conditions

A new study by Australian researchers has shown that a group of women taking calcium supplements were more prone to heart attacks.

Calcium supplements are occasionally prescribed to post-menopausal women to ensure bone strength but may be having an adverse affect, the study suggests.

Vascular events including heart attack, stroke and sudden death were commonly reported in a group of 1,471 post-menopausal women, some of whom were given a daily calcium supplement.

Carried out over five years, the study revealed that the group taking calcium supplements were much more prone to cardiac incidents.

The researchers, writing in the British Medical Journal, noted: "The present data do not permit definitive conclusions to be reached in this regard but do flag cardiac health as an area of concern in relation to calcium use and mandate that this is assessed carefully in future studies of calcium supplementation."

In related news, the British Heart Foundation recently said that long-standing anxiety can significantly increase the risk of heart attack in men over 60.


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People hoping to improve their prospects of finding affordable diabetes insurance or cancer insurance may not want to look to their bosses for inspiration.

New research carried out by Bupa Wellness has indicated that a large number of managers follow unhealthy diets and lifestyles.

In spite of the UK’s smoking bans and widespread media campaigns to encourage giving up the habit, one in ten senior level employees assessed by the healthcare specialists admitted that they still light up.

Furthermore, one in four revealed they lead a sedentary lifestyle by failing to take exercise at least once a week - increasing their risk of a heart attack or stroke by the same amount as a smoker.

Around 61 per cent had a high Body Mass Index, which opens individuals up to the risk of developing high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, diabetes and some cancers.

"It is accepted that people follow examples of strong leaders," remarked Dr Peter Mace, medical director at Bupa Wellness.

He continued: "For a manager to be seen to be making their health a priority by making changes to their diet and lifestyle, it will encourage employees to do the same."

Scientists recently concluded that people who keep fit past the age of 40 cut their chances of a stroke by half.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with medical conditions

The roles of different cholesterol types in the development of heart disease have been highlighted by new research.

Scientists at the University of Michigan School of Public Health carried out an international study of 20,000 people to ascertain whether genetic variants influence lipid levels and whether those variants are linked to the decreased or increased risk of heart disease.

In the course of their work, the team discovered seven new genes that influence blood cholesterol levels - a major factor in heart disease.

"It was surprising that while genetic variants that increase your bad cholesterol are also associated with increased risk of heart disease, we did not find that variants influencing your good cholesterol were associated with decreased risk of coronary artery disease," remarked the study’s co-director, Goncalo Abecasis.

"Perhaps that result will lead us to reexamine the roles of good and bad cholesterol in susceptibility to heart disease," he continued.

The team hopes that the identification of new gene regions associated with cholesterol levels could lead to the development of better treatments for people.

Coronary artery disease, the most common type of heart disease, can cause heart attack, stroke, angina and other heart conditions.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with heart disease

Scientists believe they have developed a new drug to reduce appetite in overweight people.

Clinical trials carried out on Merck’s treatment featured 533 obese patients and indicated that significant weight loss could be achieved at a range of different doses.

According to the research team, individuals who took 12 milligrams of taranabant typically consumed 27 per cent fewer calories than those on a placebo drug, and appeared to use up more energy and burn more fat while resting.

Merck Research Laboratories’ Steven Heymsfield, the author of the study, remarked that the results had been "surprising".

"We didn’t expect weight loss at all doses," he explained.

He revealed that taranabant works by blocking cannabinoid receptors in the brain which are responsible for the psychological effects of cannabis and help to regulate energy balance.

"The effects of marijuana on appetite have been known for millennia from its medicinal and recreational use - when you block the cannabinoid system with an antagonist like taranabant, you suppress appetite," he concluded.

Remaining obese puts individuals at an increased risk of heart disease and early death.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with obesity

Individuals considering obesity insurance may have extra concerns following the latest research.

Scientists at King’s College Hospital in south London have concluded that obesity has overtaken alcohol as the primary cause of liver disease.

Based at one of the country’s leading liver transplant centres, the experts found that for some people the damage is so severe they need a liver transplant.

Dr Varuna Aluvihare, a consultant hepatologist at King’s, told the BBC that fat-induced liver disease has also overtaken viral infections as the most common cause of liver disease in Europe and the US.

"If we extrapolate from the US experience its quite likely, unless we change things soon, in the next 20 or 30 years obesity will be the commonest cause of cirrhosis - that’s irreversible scarring, and may be the commonest cause of indication for transplantation," he warned.

Doctors point out that as the liver is the body’s largest internal organ, carrying out hundreds of functions, it is often unable to cope with large fat levels.

People who are overweight are also at risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with obesity

Individuals who suffer from restless leg syndrome (RLS) are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack, according to new research.

Scientists based at Harvard Medical School also found that those with the most frequent and severe RLS symptoms were most at risk of heart disease.

"The association of RLS with heart disease and stroke was strongest in those people who had RLS symptoms at least 16 times per month," remarked study author John W Winkelman.

As the largest of its kind to be undertaken, the work involved nearly 3,500 patients, with seven per cent of women and three per cent of men suffering from RLS.

Commenting on the study’s findings, Mr Winkelman suggested that RLS is linked to substantial increases in blood pressure and heart rate which, over the long term, could develop into cardiovascular disease.

However he admitted that the study had its limitations, as diagnosis of RLS in patients was self-reported by questionnaire rather than clinical interview.

It follows last month’s study by German researchers, which concluded that transplanting genetically engineered cells into heart attack victims could help reduce the risk of sudden death following the event.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with medical conditions