News Date: Wednesday 8th June 2005
Tim Loughton MP scans his heart as part of 'Help a Heart' week
To help raise the profile of 'Help a Heart' week and ahead of the Parliamentary debate on Coronary Heart Disease on 9th June 2005, this morning Tim Loughton MP and fellow Shadow Health Ministers together with other health conscious MPs went for heart scans at Lifesyne?s on Victoria Street diagnostic clinic.
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a preventable disease that kills more than 110, 000 people in England every year . Every week an average of 2,400 women die from heart attacks which could be prevented through more active lifestyles and healthier eating.
Tim Loughton commented:
?It is vitally important that we all do more to look after our hearts. Taking care of what we eat and increasing exercise are simple pro-active ways of looking after ourselves. However for certain high risk groups where heart disease is also hereditary, it can be useful to use screening to alert doctors and patients in order to determine the best preventative care which can be adopted.?
ENDS
Note to editors
1. CHD is the biggest killer in the country.
2. MPs taking part in the heart scans were:
- Andrew Lansley , Shadow Health Secretary
- Tim Loughton, Shadow Health Minister
- Andrew Murrison Shadow Health Minister
- John Baron, Shadow Health Minister
- Crispin Blunt MP
- John Maples MP
- Andrew Selous MP
- Baroness Morris, Shadow Health Minister
- Lord McColl, Shadow Health Minister
- Earl Howe, Shadow Health Minister
3. At the last election, the Conservative Party promised if elected to develop National Health Screening programmes, or health MOTs, in conjunction with NICE. We know, after all, that certain diseases, if detected early, can be treated easily and cost-effectively ? and that screening can therefore deliver clear and unambiguous benefits. Many screening technologies are now sufficiently mature to be offered in a cost-effective and minimally invasive way.
MOTs would have been offered to the adult population on registration with a GP and thereafter every 3-5 years (or according to NICE guidance), and would have tested routinely for common diseases and treatable conditions.
4. Lifesyne is a medical scanning facility offering pre-emptive scans is individuals who are concerned about heart disease, lung and colon cancer. Lifesyne can offer peace of mind and accurately detect early warning signs of potentially fatal diseases at their earliest most treatable stage. Lifesyne was established in 2002 and has scanned thousands of people providing vital information to individuals and doctors. For more information about Lifesyne please contact Stephen Whale on: 020 7340 6016
