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Swine flu and you

In light of the latest news about swine flu in the UK, we've put together a special Q&A for heart patients and their carers who may be worried about it.

People with chronic conditions such as heart disease, the elderly and the very young, have a greater risk of having worse symptoms than the general population.

For the full swine flu Q&A please visit our main website

Statins and heart health

Statins are a drug currently prescribed to healthy people who are at high risk of heart disease, perhaps because of a family history of heart disease, or high cholesterol levels.

They can also help prevent further problems for people who have had a heart attack or stroke.

Statins lower cholesterol in your blood. High cholesterol can lead to fatty deposits building up in your arteries, which may lead to coronary heart disease.

As with any drug there is a risk of side effects, but with statins these are usually mild and easy to spot and treat.

The British Medical Journal recently published a paper which suggests statins could be useful for everyone, whether they have the symptoms of heart disease or not.

Our senior cardiac nurse, Cathy Ross, says that this may have implications on when doctors prescribe statins.

Have you had experience of statins? Please leave us a comment, or you can join us on Facebook and Twitter and share your experiences there.

Stay safe in the sun

While many of us have been longing for some proper summer weather, it is important to look after yourself when it's hot.

We've put together the latest info for heart patients, vunerable people and the population in general on how to stay cool and safe in the current hot spell sweeping Britain.

You can read all about heatstroke and its implications on our main website

So what exactly is cardiac arrest?

We've expanded our information on cardiac arrest on our website after the death of singer Michael Jackson at the age of 50. He had reportedly suffered one at his home in Los Angeles.

There's often some confusion between cardiac arrest and a heart attack, but they are actually different things.

Cardiac arrest, which is when the heart stops pumping blood around the body because of a disturbance in the normal heart rhythm, can happen without any existing heart condition.

A heart attack can be one of the causes of cardiac arrest, but other causes can include such things as electrocution, bleeding, choking or a drugs overdose.

To find out more about cardiac arrest and heart attack please visit our website

If you would like to post a comment about Michael Jackson or cardiac arrest please do so below...

From capital to coast - beating heart disease together

A huge well done and thank you to the 27,000 cyclists who took part our London to Brighton Bike Ride in great weather yesterday.

Our annual 54-mile ride, Europe's largest charity bike event, on a scenic route through Surrey and Sussex has raised over £46m for our lifesaving work since it started.

Cyclists set off from south London at half-hourly intervals from 6am to 9am and began arriving on Brighton seafront from about 8.30am.

Since 1980, when we first became involved, over 650,000 riders have taken part. Most riders took about six hours to reach the finishing post.

Among those taking part was comedian and author Dave Gorman (pictured right), who completed the route in three hours and 59 minutes.

"I wanted to get under four hours," he said. "I'm really pleased I got up Ditchling Beacon. I'm officially fitter than I was four years ago when I did it last.

"It was brilliant that people came out to cheer. It's a great event to support the BHF."

BHF spokeswoman Tamara Bennett said: "The day has gone really, really well. The weather has been fantastic - dry and sunny but with enough cloud cover to stop people getting too hot."

See our Flickr photo gallery from L2B 2009

Follow the event as it unfolded on our Twitter feed

Did you take part in the Ride, or would you like to pay tribute to those who did? Then please post a comment below...

London to Brighton Bike Ride 2009 Pics and Messages

Take a look at our live coverage on Twitter and our online photo galleries on Flickr

Some great pics of people like John and Rob, doing London to Brighton for their seventh year - five years dressed as fat ladies!

They're doing it for Dad who was affected by heart disease.

Next year they're thinking about dressing up as married fat ladies!

Tell us your L2B story by posting a comment below...