For those of you that know me you are probably aware that I love chocolate. When I think of giving things up, chocolate is the only thing where the thought of not having fills me with trepidation. The last time I gave it up was for lent when I was aged about 10 or so and my family ate chocolate mousse in front of me - it was a scaring experience. 

But I am not just doing this for the challenge, heart disease (or the speciality of cardiology) is important to me. In the summer of last year my dad was admitted to hospital with Wolf Parkinson White syndrome - an arrhythmia of the heart brought on by having extra electrical connections. Thanks to the work of the Royal Brompton and a lovely specialist nurse at Ealing Hospital he is all better now, but it was a scary time. 30 years ago the procedure that cured him didn't exist and without research money and time it still wouldn't. 

Moreover, studying cardiology this module has opened my eyes to the problem that it is in our society. With our western lifestyle CVD (cardiovascular disease) is a massive problem causing huge amounts of morbidity and death. These diseases range from strokes to heart attacks (Myocardial infarction) to claudication (vascular problems causing pain on walking). And affect people of all ages genders and backgrounds.

So please support with whatever you can.

Thank You 

https://www.bhf.org.uk/research/heart-statistics 

https://dechox.bhf.org.uk/