COVID-19 infection may become an annual winter virus and follow a clear seasonal pattern, like influenza. Environmental factors, such as extremes in temperature and pollution, could make it easier for the COVID-19 infection to increase the chances of getting… Read more

Patients and healthcare professionals alike are concerned about the side effects* of steroids, especially the increased chance of developing osteoporosis, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases (van der Goes 2009). Yet, patients with vasculitis (a collection of rare conditions of inflamed… Read more

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors remain the leading cause of death and illness in the UK, causing 1 in 4 deaths in England. The Covid-19 pandemic has added to the burden and the urgency in identifying risk factors… Read more

This winter, COVID, influenza and their indirect effects on chronic disease care (particularly cardiovascular disease, CVD) probably represent the greatest challenges for the NHS. COVID and influenza can have direct (e.g. hospitalisation and mortality), indirect (e.g. reduced CVD procedures)… Read more

Healthcare planners need important epidemiological metrics for vascular diseases like heart attack and stroke. For example, they need to know how often people have diseases of different types (‘incidence’), how severe these diseases are (‘case fatality’), and how many… Read more

Diabetes is a condition linked with abnormally high blood sugar, which can damage blood vessels and body organs. Blood sugar is regulated by a chemical called insulin. In type 1 diabetes the pancreas does not produce any insulin and mainly… Read more

Heart and diabetes related problems are the number one cause of death in the world. Also known as cardiometabolic diseases, many of them are common and well-known. Some however are rare or found in less than 1 in 2,000 people. Read more

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the commonest birth defect, affecting just under 1% of the population – at least 700,000 people in the UK. Work we have done in UK general practice patients, using information predating mass COVID vaccination, has… Read more