Ambulance UK - April 2020

NEWSLINE
A heart attack is caused by
a blockage of one or more
coronary arteries of the heart,
which prevents blood and oxygen
reaching the heart muscle.
awarded to the University of
Bristol as part of Heart Research
UK’s annual awards for research
into the prevention, treatment
and cure of heart disease.
If paramedics can use this
approach, breathlessness may
be calmed more quickly and
some people may not need to
go to A&E.
Treatment for heart attacks
include reopening the blocked
coronary artery with stents or
bypass surgery, though there are
limitations with these treatments.
Reopening coronary arteries is
often insufficient to achieve a
complete salvage of the heart,
and the damage caused by a
heart attack can lead to heart
failure.
A potential new treatment is
to increase the blood flow to
damaged heart tissue by using
drugs that encourage the body to
grow new blood vessels.
The project will be led by Prof
Paolo Madeddu, Chair of
Experimental Cardiovascular
Medicine at the University
of Bristol, who, along with his
team, discovered that an excess
of a protein called BACH1 can
prevent blood vessel formation.
Prof Madeddu and his team hope
to show that the use of BACH1
inhibitors can stimulate the
growth of new blood vessels. If
successful, this would be the first
step in developing them into drug
treatments for heart disease.
This would result in improved
quality of life and reduced risk of
developing heart failure.
Also, this treatment may benefit
people suffering from other
diseases where new vessel
growth is needed, such as poor
blood circulation in the legs, or
damage to other organs, such as
the kidney, brain and eyes.
Prof Madeddu said: “The use
of BACH1 inhibitors is a very
promising area of study that
promises to have a huge impact
on the way that we treat a wide
range of conditions.
“If we are successful, the door
will be opened for a whole new
method of treating people who
have suffered damage to their
hearts. The ability to stimulate
the growth of new blood vessels
will allow us to drastically
improve the quality of life of
patients who may be at risk of
heart failure.
“We’re very grateful to Heart
Research UK for allowing us to
undertake this research.”
Kate Bratt-Farrar, Chief
Executive of Heart Research UK,
said: “We are delighted to be
supporting the research of Prof
Madeddu and his team, which
has the potential to significantly
reduce the risk of people
developing heart failure after a
heart attack.
“Our Translational Research
Project Grants are all about
bridging the gap between
laboratory-based scientific
research and patient care -
they aim to bring the latest
developments to patients as
soon as possible.
“The dedication we see
from UK researchers is both
encouraging and impressive
and Heart Research UK is so
proud to be part of it.”
The £107,726 Translational
Research Project grant was
Last year, Heart Research UK
awarded more than £1.6 million
in grants for medical research
projects across the UK. To
date, the charity has invested
more than £25 million in
medical research via its grants
programme.
YAS
Yorkshire Ambulance
Service is testing
new ways to
support people with
breathlessness
Paramedics at Yorkshire
Ambulance Service are
taking part in a new National
Institute for Health Research
(NIHR) funded study to see
if training in techniques to
ease breathlessness will help
more people stay at home
rather than being conveyed to
hospital.
Breathlessness is one of the
symptoms paramedics are
frequently called out for. It is
common in people with heart
and lung conditions and can
become very severe and
frightening. When this happens
patients or family members
often call for ambulance
assistance.
In a recent study, it was
found that one in five of all
people taken by ambulance to
Accident and Emergency (A&E)
departments called for help
because of breathlessness.
However, a third of these did
not need to stay in hospital and
were discharged home. There
are ways of managing severe
breathlessness that could
be used in a patient’s home.
To test this approach in more
detail Yorkshire Ambulance
Service NHS Trust is part of
the BREATHE (Breathlessness
RElief AT HomE) study, a
collaboration between the Trust
and the Universities of Hull, York
and Sheffield, with support from
the British Lung Foundation.
Eight paramedics working in the
Hull area are taking part over
the next six months. Four will
be trained to use techniques
to reduce breathlessness that
do not involve any medications
and four will treat patients as
usual. All patients who become
involved in the study will agree
to take part.
Fiona Bell, Acting Head
of Research at Yorkshire
Ambulance Service NHS Trust,
said: “This is a first, finding out
whether paramedics can use
an intervention which is widely
used in hospitals and in the
community. If it is successful
there are obvious benefits
for patients and for the whole
urgent and emergency care
system.”
Dr Ann Hutchinson, Research
Fellow at the University of
Hull, said: “This is a great
opportunity to see if our
research findings on what
patients need, when they are
severely breathless, can be
implemented by paramedics.
Once we have done this, we will
be able to design a study to test
how effective this intervention
is in enabling some people to
stay at home where possible,
thus reducing the need for
conveyance to hospital –
easing the burden on patients,
their families, the ambulance
services and the hospitals.”
AMBULANCE UK - APRIL
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