Newsletter of Angus Cardiac Group – Winter Edition (8) Page 1: Message from the Chair. ACG contact details. Page 2: Its a Success. Angus Health Fair. Page 3; Healthy Living Quiz. Page 4: Xmas at the Links. Hi Folks.... I hope you all enjoyed yourself at the Christmas Lunch! Unfortunately I was unable to attend as I was still on antibiotics for a stubborn chest infection and did not want to make anyone else unwell. The last year has been a very eventful one...many joint fundraising events, sponsored walks, bbqs and speaker evenings...and seen the standing down of a much respected leader…Tom ....then of course my new appointment as your chairman. I can assure you of my full attention when I am on the mend and I am at present just recovering from my operation. I had my operation on the 24th January. My thanks to all of you for continued support, visits, cards and of course my email contact with you all is much appreciated. It makes me more sure than ever our group is helpful to patients and carers. I am missing everyone and can’t wait to be well enough to get back in among you all. 2008 will be a busy productive year with many of us giving a little back to the medical and nursing profession that we are all so grateful to have benefited from at some time. We are all aiming for one goal of support and encouragement of each other. Angus is a richer area because of support groups like ours and as we move towards 2008 I very much hope we can maintain a united front and continue the good work of ACG. Page 5:. Patient Involvement. Page 6: Good health and much happiness.. and happy new year to you and yours and I look forward to seeing you soon... Mary B Recipes, Quiz Answers. Page 7: The smoking ban - how effective has it been…? Valentine Treat. Page 8: Hearty Christmas from Angus Cardiac Group. And finally…. Chair: Mary Ballantyne 01307 850330 [email protected] Vice Chair (Forfar): Gordon Snedden 01307 462045 [email protected] Vice Chair (Montrose) John Dean 01674 660424 Secretary Jennifer Hedge 01307 477718 [email protected] Treasurer Vicki Brighton 01674 6748174 [email protected] Arbroath Branch Jennifer McArtney Lawrie Gallacher 01382 535357 01241 876378 [email protected] [email protected] Forfar Branch Sam Connelly Ken Fenwick Gordon Snedden 01307 463212 01307 464404 01307462045 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Montrose Branch: John Dean Agnes Mitchell 01674 660424 01674 675892 Nothing but good reports from Carnoustie!!!! Congratulations to all concerned with the new class which has proved to be successful and popular. Melanie Third (the instructor – pictured middle right) has asked me to inform you she is not fat, she is with child. If you would like to attend please contact Carnoustie Leisure Centre on 01241 853246 ……… The Angus Cardiac Group had a stall at the recent Angus Health Fair. This was held in the Reid Hall, Forfar 11 – 5 pm on the 20 September 2007 and was open to anyone who wished to drop in. As well as advertising the aims and activities of the group, Karen Fletcher, CHD/Stroke Prevention Co-ordinator, Pauline Crozier, Community Cardiac Nurse and Rhonda Hannah, Community Cardiac Nurse offered mini-health checks, ably assisted by members of the community nursing team. Alex Masson was also on hand to give first hand experience of being a member of the group. There was also opportunity to raise awareness of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease and advertise what to do in an emergency situation, should you suspect someone of having a heart attack or stroke. The mini-quizzes on blood pressure, healthy workout, cholesterol and fats proved popular and prize draws took place for all quizzes completed. Prizes included pulse watches, pedometers and exercise equipment. Over 50 health checks were undertaken which gives an indication of how popular the stall was. Well done to all those involved! Section A Section B 1.What type of milk do you usually use? a. Ordinary b. Semi skimmed c. Skimmed 7.How many slices of bread (Or equivalent in rolls or chapattis, etc,) do you eat most days? a. 6 or more b. 4-5 c. 2-3 d. 1 or less 2. How do you spread margarine or butter on bread? a. Thickly b. Medium c. Thinly 3. How often do you eat biscuits, cakes or pastries in a week? a. 6 or more times b. 3-5 times c. Once or twice d. Very occasionally or never 4. How often do you eat sweets, chocolates or confectionery in a week? a. 6 or more times b. 3-5 times c. Once or twice d. Very occasionally or never 5. How often do you eat chips or crisps in week? a. 6 or more times b. 3-5 times c. Once or twice d. Very occasionally 6. How often do you eat sausages, meat pies or burgers in a week? a. 6 or more times b. 3-5 times c. Once or twice d. Very occasionally or never 8. How often do you eat boiled or baked potatoes, rice, pasta or noodles in a week? a. 6 or more b. 3-5 times c. Once or twice d. Very occasionally or never 9. How many potatoes (about the size of an egg) do you usually eat as part of a meal? a. 5 or more b. 4 c. 3 d. 1-2 10. How many times in a week do you eat a breakfast cereal? * a. 6 or more times b. 3-5 times c. Once or twice d. Very occasionally or never *Add 2 points if its whole-wheat or wholegrain variety 11. How many portions of fruit and vegetables do you eat every day? a. 6 or more b. 3-5 c. 2 d. 0-1 Answers on page 6. Thanks to all who attended yet another enjoyable Christmas Lunch at the Links Hotel, Montrose. See back page for more information about the day. Thanks to Sandy Robertson for taking on photography duty!! http://www.heartstroketayside.org.uk/ Patient Involvement By Gordon Meldrum, member of Angus Cardiac Group (Forfar). In the Autumn of 2004 when attending a Stroke meeting it was drawn to everyone’s attention that the Heart/Stroke website being developed with Big Lottery Funding, urgently needed patient/carer volunteers to access the temporary site and give feedback on content, design, accessibility etc. I volunteered and was welcomed on board. I was only one of many patients, carers and indeed professionals who agreed to do this. The Project team leader was Mandy Andrew and my contact within the team was Mhairi Gilmour. I often used spare time at home to open the site and navigate the various components and links, noting any improvements and highlighting errors/omissions which I thought were relevant. I usually communicated these by email but on several occasions I was asked to meet with Mhairi for a one to one appraisal of the site. I was prepared to be questioned at length about my comments and suggestions to ensure the team fully understood what was being said so that changes were effective. Because I had suffered a Heart Attack and also multiple Mini Strokes I found it relatively easy to communicate my thoughts to the team through Mhairi. It was obvious in my dealings with the project team that the patient and carers viewpoints were of great importance. That was evident when various patient representatives along with their partners/carers attended an event at Ashludie hospital to design a logo for the site. We agreed after much discussion that lightning flashes, because stokes and heart attacks are like being struck by a bolt of lightning, should form the main part of the logo. Then it was suggested that the “i” of Tayside could represent an information point symbol and so the logo developed as you see it today with the two lightning flashes coming from Heart & Stroke to the information point symbol. I was pleased and surprised at the outcome, after mentioning to Mhairi during a one to one evaluation that it would be helpful to have links to the pathway you were already on at the foot of each page to avoid having to return to the top of the page. Well, the technology people got hold of that and developed it as an underground train journey with stations representing the journey ahead or a return journey to where you had come from. This information was revealed by merely hovering the mouse over the station enabling you to go there or to move forward or back to another station until you found the next desired point on your journey. The site was officially launched in Dundee on 9th October 2007 and is recommended to all patients, carers and professionals as a great improvement on the information journey. The site is not set in stone, indeed it will be regularly updated by the project team and its future depends on us, the patients as much as anything else. If you have comments to pass which could lead to improvements in the site presentation then use the links, ABOUT US > CONTACT US, at the top of every page. Your comments will be welcome. If you do not have a computer, you could take this article with you into a public Library and ask for their assistance. Seared Tuna with Roasted Plum Tomatoes Servings, Preparation and Cooking Time Number of servings: 4 Preparation time: 15 minutes plus 30 minutes marinating Cooking time: 25 minutes Ingredients 1 clove garlic, finely chopped rind and juice of 1 lime 5tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing 3tbsp chopped fresh rosemary 4 fresh tuna steaks 6 plum tomatoes, halved lengthways 1 red onion, thinly sliced Seasoning 1. 2. 3. Method Mix together the garlic, lime rind and half the juice, 2 tbsp of the oil and 1 tbsp of rosemary in a large dish. Add the tuna and coat with the marinade – marinate for 30 minutes. Pre heat oven to 220 degrees c/425 degrees f/gas7. Place the tomatoes and onion in a shallow oven proof dish with the remaining rosemary. Drizzle with the remaining oil and season. Roast in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender and lightly browned. Lightly oil a ridged cast iron grill pan or large frying pan, heat the pan and cook the tuna steaks for 5 to 6 minutes turning once. Serve with the tomatoes and onion and drizzle the remaining lime juice Comforting Chicken Soup Serves:4 Cooking time:1 hour Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed 2 chicken breasts, diced 2 leeks, chopped 200 g potatoes, unpeeled and chopped 1.2 litre chicken stock 3 sprigs of thyme 2 bay leaves kernels from 1 cob of sweetcorn freshly ground black pepper 1. 2. 3. Method Heat olive oil in a saucepan, add onion, garlic, chicken and leeks, and sauté gently for 8 minutes without browning. Add the potatoes, stock, thyme and bay leaves, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add sweetcorn kernels and cook for a further 10 minutes. Remove thyme and bay leaves before serving. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper. A=4 points, B=3 points, C=2 points, D=1 point The lower your score for section A the better. Below 10 is really good. Above 25 suggests you need to reduce the amount of fat in your diet. The higher your score for section B the better. A score above 15 is very good. Less than 7 and changes are needed to increase the amount of bread, cereals, potatoes, fruit and vegetables in your diet. Which means a diet, which is, overall, low in fat and high in cereals, bread, fruit and vegetables. If your score for A is greater than your score in B then you really do need to make a change in your diet. To help show where you can make the necessary changes look again at your answers. The questions in section A which gave you a high score, and those in section B which gave you a low score are the areas to concentrate on. On March 26th 2006 Scotland became the first part of the UK to go smoke-free in enclosed public places. Afterwards, a lot of research was carried out in order to show what sort of impact this had actually had. We now know that the smoking ‘ban’ (as most people tend to call it) has brought many positive results. For example, the experts found that after the legislation came into force there was a 17 per cent reduction in heart attack admissions to nine Scottish hospitals in the first year. This compares with a yearly reduction in Scottish admissions for heart attack of just 3 per cent per year in the decade before the ban. And this was just the start! There was also a 39 per cent reduction in second hand smoke exposure in 11-year-olds and in adult non-smokers after the ban. This effect means that today hundreds of thousands of people are no longer having to breathe air heavily polluted with tobacco smoke “like having a toxic rubbish-dump on fire next to where you live” according to professor Stanton Glanz of the University of California. Another benefit of the ban was an 86 per cent reduction in secondhand smoke in bars and clubs meaning that longsuffering bar staff were able to breathe fresh air in almost all places where they worked, bringing immediate health benefits. Also, in the home environment, there has been an increase in the proportion of homes with smoking restrictions and no evidence of smoking shifting from public places into the home. It’s clear that because of publicity around the ban many people are thinking long and hard about where and when they light up. Overall there has been high public support for the legislation even among smokers, whose support actually increased once the legislation was in place. Despite the success of going smoke-free, tobacco still poses a huge challenge to Scotland’s health. 35 smokers in Scotland die every day from diseases caused by tobacco. Most Scots who smoke are hooked before they reach the age of 16 and one in five babies are born to a mother who smoked throughout pregnancy. 18% of 15 year old girls and 12% of 15 year old boys are regular smokers and 82% of these teenagers buy their cigarettes from shops. If it’s easy for young people to buy cigarettes it shows that enforcement of the age restriction laws is much needed. Recently the age limit was raised from 16 to 18 and Christine Grahame MSP is currently championing the issue of licensing tobacco sales in Scotland. The final good news is that around 70% of smokers in Scotland want to quit! However, tobacco is addictive and many smokers find it difficult to stop smoking. Most people need to try more than once but are likely to be more successful if they get professional help and a quit smoking medication such as Nicotine Replacement Therapy. Nicotine patches are probably the most popular. With this help you can be four times more successful in your quit attempt. Support is offered free by Tayside Health Board. You can find your local stop smoking service by: Speaking to your GP or Practice Nurse Phoning the National Smokeline (a free national phone service) on 0800 84 84 84 Contacting the Tayside Smoking Helpline (calls charged at local rate) on 0845 600 9996 Bill Edwards Senior Health Promotions Officer Piperdam Golf & Leisure Resort Phone:01382 581374 Fishing Deals Worth Diving For Boat or Bank Fishing 4 fish limit including soup & roll £10.00 per person Bring a Friend! Spa Day Breaks at Piperdam Why not be good to yourself? Treat yourself to a relaxing Spa Day at the Osprey Leisure Club. Relax in the Swimming Pool, Steam Room and Sauna. Then enjoy a freshly prepared light lunch, from our Healthy Eating Menu, while you enjoy the beautiful views over the Piperdam loch and Golf Course. £15.00 NEWS RELEASE Members of Angus Cardiac Group and their guests enjoyed their annual Christmas Lunch at the Links Hotel, Montrose on Thursday 13th December and continued to demonstrate their support for local cardiac services. In welcoming those attending Gordon Snedden, one of the Vice-Chairmen of the Group, thanked the invited guests for their support throughout the year and congratulated the members on a successful 2007. Following the meal a number of presentations were made. Vicki Brighton, Treasurer of the Group, presented a cheque for £200 to Catriona Laing from the Montrose branch of the Scottish Association of Children with Heart Disorders and £750 to Karen Fletcher, CHD/Stroke Coordinator with Angus Community Health Partnership (CHP), for the purchase of approved blood pressure monitors for a number of the GP practices in Angus. Gordon Snedden and John Dean, also a Vice-Chairman, made presentations of pulse watches, totalling £400, to the Angus Cardiac Rehabilitation programme. Cardiac Rehab Nurses Zanna Christie, Rhonda Hannah and Pauline Crozier received the pulse watches for phase 3 of the programme, which they currently supervise at Stracathro Hospital and Arbroath Infirmary. Laura Deacon, working with Angus Council Leisure, also received pulse watches for the Angus Long-term Exercise Programme for People with Coronary Heart Disease (phase 4 of the rehab programme) currently running at leisure centres in Arbroath, Carnoustie, Forfar and Montrose. Laura is one of six exercise instructors in Angus currently qualified to conduct long-term exercise classes for people with heart disease. Membership of the Angus Cardiac Group is open to anyone with an interest in the aims and activities of the group. Further information is available from Gordon Snedden (01307 462045), John Dean (01674 660424) or www.anguscardiacgroup.co.uk A member of the Angus Cardiac Group, shared an anecdote with the Editorial Team recently……… A frivolous old woman admitted to seeing six gentlemen every day. She said “As soon as I wake up Will Power helps me out of bed, then I go to see Jimmy Riddle and then its time for breakfast with Mr Kellogg, followed closely by the refreshing company of Mr Tetley, or my other friend who is only known by his initials PG! Then comes someone I don’t like at all Arthur, you know …. Arthur Itis, he knows he is not welcome, but insists on being here, and what is more he stays for the rest of the day. Even then he does not like to stay in one place for too long, so he takes me from joint to joint. After such a hectic day I am glad to get to bed (and with Johnny Walker too!) What a hectic life!! Oh yes, last but not least I forgot to mention I am now flirting with Al Zheimer. I keep thinking of the hereafter. No matter where I am, the bedroom, the kitchen, the sitting room or the garden, I ask myself “now” what am I here after. I hope that Will Power is your constant companion too. And watch out for Gerry Atric. Now if like me you have all those friends, you won’t have much time to grumble or complain, but I am sure you will go to bed with a smile on your face!” Thanks to Bill Mutch,