Monday Club - 15th June 2017

On Monday 15^th May, the Monday Club members had a very interesting and informative talk from Eleanor Fenton, pharmacist at the Creebridge Mill Pharmacy, who was accompanied by Hui Lee, Student.

Eleanor talked about “Reducing the Risk of Heart Disease”. 

She talked about the blood pressure and explained how it is measured and recorded, explaining the difference between the higher reading (systolic pressure) and lower reading (diastolic pressure).  She also explained that a normal reading would be up to 140/90mmHg (millimetres of mercury).  She talked about the different drug treatments available for high blood pressure. 

She then explained what cholesterol was and how too much of it in our blood can be harmful as it contributes to a risk of developing heart disease and stroke. 

She explained how a healthy diet is important and explained the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats.  She gave further advice about limiting our salt intake, our alcohol intake, maintaining a healthy weight, reducing the amount of sugar we eat and stopping smoking.

The talk was very interactive and the members were able to ask many questions including some about the medications they take.

Eleanor mentioned that a “medicine review” is available at our local pharmacies.  Patients can always ask to speak to a pharmacist if they are unsure of any side effects they are experiencing or if they are uncertain as to when is the best time to take their medicine. 

Before concluding the talk, members were given an example of a 75 years old gentleman with a 62% risk of having a heart attack over the next 10 years and how that risk was reduced to 49% over several months by making changes to his lifestyle.  

click on picture to enlarge

Big thank you to Eleanor and Hui for taking the time to visit the Monday Club and passing on such valuable information!

Please see below factsheets and information leaflets on various topics:

Reducing the risk of heart disease - click here
Cholesterol - click here

Healthy Eating - click here

Alternatively you can visit the "Chest Heart & Stroke" website by clicking the following link: https://www.chss.org.uk/