Cardiovascular disease in the United
Kingdom
Cardiovascular disease accounts for almost half of
all death in the UK, no less for women than men. Heart disease
alone kills more people each year than all types of cancer
combined. Adverse health trends such as high blood pressure,
obesity and diabetes, combined with an ageing population, presents
us with major challenges over the coming decades. Better
health care means that there are more people living with
cardiovascular disease and its complications than ever
before. However, providing more health professionals to deal
with the current epidemic of cardiovascular disease does nothing to
reduce its prevalence. Only through continued research will we
understand why heart disease became such a huge problem at the
beginning of the twentieth century and how we might confine it to
history in the twenty-first.
Bristol Heart Institute research - "Translating
basic science onto clinical
practice"
The Bristol Heart Institute (BHI) was founded in
1995 by basic and clinical scientists wishing to work
collaboratively. Based on our success, the BHI has expanded
substantially since then. Current researching funding is over
£60 million supporting 235 research personnel located in the
University of Bristol and across Bristol NHS Trusts. Our
mission is to translate basic scientific research into novel
clinical practice, thereby improving patient outcome and care. We
bring together internationally respected experts from many
disciplines of cardiovascular science and
disease.
With a proven track record of translating basic
science into clinical practice and health policy, we also translate
observations at a human population level back to basic science in
order to obtain a causal understanding of disease
mechanisms.
The way forward
Bristol is now one of the leading centres for
cardiovascular disease research in the UK.
From basic science to clinical studies and population
epigenetics, it already has nationally and internationally
recognised strengths in cardiovascular research. These achievements
would not have been possible without the collaborative
opportunities provided by the BHI, but we recognise that there is
potential to deliver a great deal more. To this end, we are
extending our research resources, expertise and collaboration by
the expansion and strengthening of local links to the University of
the West of England and Bristol Primary Care Trust, and to the
wider research community of south-west England and south
Wales.
The Bristol Heart Institute Medical
Centre
The new Bristol Heart Institute Medical Centre
opened its doors to patients in May 2009. Funded by the
Department of Health, this state-of-the-art £60 million centre
unites cardiology and cardiac surgery as well as cardiac imaging
and research. The centre is part of University Hospitals
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust working in partnership with the
University of Bristol.
