Heart Health Archives | Surrey Cardiovascular Clinic

The SCVC Blog

Cardiovascular care news and articles from our expert team

Who Can You Trust? The Rise of Anti-Statin Narratives and the Crisis of Trust in Modern Medicine

One of the greatest challenges in the online world is investigator bias. Any “expert” with a strong conviction — whether pro- or anti-statin — can easily find studies that appear to confirm their view. The internet is full of such cherry-picked data. When presented with confident authority, this can sound utterly convincing to a lay audience. The reality is that true medical understanding does not come from one paper, one YouTube video, or one self-proclaimed authority.

Why CAC Scoring Is No Longer Recommended for Men Under 50 and Women Under 60

In 2025, with access to low-dose CT angiography, FAI analysis, and a deeper understanding of plaque biology, it is increasingly difficult to justify CAC scoring in younger individuals.

Cardiovascular Prevention: Why Waiting Until 60 Is Too Late

Cardiovascular disease is detectable and treatable decades before first symptoms appear, especially in the critical age range known as *"Sniper’s Alley"* (40–60 years). Waiting until 60 is too late. Early prevention, particularly LDL cholesterol control, saves lives. Learn why men and women with a family history of heart disease demands a more proactive approach — and why starting young matters.

Nourishing Life: Integrating Yang Sheng (養生) into Modern Preventive Medicine

An article by Dr Edward Leatham, Consultant Cardiologist. As cardiologists, our primary focus is often on diagnosing, treating, and managing cardiovascular diseases, which is essential to healthcare. However, heart health involves more than just addressing immediate conditions—it also includes promoting […]

Let’s Talk About Salt: Debunking Common Myths

As only 10% of patients with high blood pressure are 'salt sensitive' (meaning that the blood pressure fails to fall in 90% of hypertensives when salt intake is greatly reduced), it seems plausible that consuming high levels of sodium from a young age can “programme” the cardiovascular system to maintain higher blood pressure later in life.

Why an Annual Health Screen can now be a ‘Win Win’ for both Employers and Employees

Annual health screenings are a valuable investment in employee well-being, offering significant benefits for both employees and employers. The HMRC’s tax exemption makes these screenings financially attractive, allowing companies to offer meaningful health benefits cost-effectively. Advanced medical technologies, such as AI-driven CT scans, enhance early detection capabilities, providing further value.

Preventing a Heart Attack: What Can Be Done?

While predicting a heart attack with absolute certainty may still be beyond our reach, the ability to identify patients at high risk is a significant step forward. The latest techniques used to find people at risk are summarised in a […]

What techniques are out there to reduce glucose spikes?

This blog explores how individuals can conduct their own experiments to maintain a steady blood glucose and avoid potentially unhealthy glucose spikes above 7.8 mmol/L (140 mg/dL).

The CaRi Heart Score: A New Frontier in Cardiovascular Risk Assessment

The CaRi Heart Score leverages artificial intelligence and advanced imaging techniques to provide a more comprehensive assessment of coronary inflammation, even before non calcified and calcified plaque becomes detectable on CT.

My glucose spikes: so what?

There is a wealth of evidence linking pre-diabetes, raised HbA1c, and full-blown type 2 diabetes to increasing cardiovascular risk. Lesser degrees of a pre diabetic metabolism could therefore have an important role in causing long-term atherosclerosis.

Why I now might want to calcify my coronary arteries!

Detecting coronary calcification on CT has been known as a sign of having coronary artery disease for over 30 years, but now the thinking has changed, and it might be logical to conclude that, if you have non calcified coronary artery disease, the best you can hope for is a strategy that calcifies your plaque!

Is coronary artery calcification good or bad?

Recognition that significant coronary artery disease exists without calcification led to the wider user of contrast-enhanced CT scans to detect both calcified and noncalcified plaques. Even more advanced scans identify not only the non calcified plaques, but also areas of inflammation (using data processing to measure FAI), that a non-contrast CT (such as a CAC scan) would otherwise miss. Sequential CAC to follow up disease progression quickly established that an increase in CAC with age was inevitable in most patients and not linked to clinical course, so is not widely practiced.