This case study presents an everyday clinical situation for you to review with guidance from an expert in the field.

Ischaemic or coronary heart disease is the single leading cause of death in any Western population but more critically is one of the leading causes of premature deaths (i.e. deaths < 75 years) in both men and women. There are numerous risk factors for ischaemic heart disease and understanding these and other comorbidities is critical to achieving optimal outcomes.

We all know that diabetes prevalence is increasing. It is estimated that by 2025, 5 million people will have Type 2 diabetes in the UK (Diabetes UK). That potentially means more pressure on an already creaking healthcare system and more people at risk of developing debilitating complications from their diabetes. It doesn’t have to be that way!

Our latest Back to Basics is a wallchart highlighting key features about familial hypercholesterolaemia with links to other useful information.

An 18-year UK study in more than 24,000 subjects shows the benefits of exercise in elderly patients. The EPIC Norfolk prospective population study showed that any physical activity in the elderly is better than none at all for reducing cardiovascular risk.

Between 2002 and 2014, the number of new cases of heart failure in the UK increased by 12% – from 170,727 to 190,798 cases, according to the most comprehensive review of heart failure statistics in the UK. The number of new heart failure cases in 2014 was similar to the combined number of new cases of breast, prostate, lung and bowel cancer (189,136 cases in 2014).

Misdiagnosis of diabetes subtypes is putting the health of people at risk to a new UK study. Researchers examined the primary care records of more than 2 million people, assessing the frequency of different types of diabetes and the accuracy of diagnosis. Particular focus was given to those who developed Type 3c diabetes.

Worldwide, there has been a more than ten-fold increase in the number of children and adolescents with obesity in the past four decades, increasing from 5 million girls in 1975 to 50 million in 2016, and from 6 million to 74 million boys, according to a new global analysis of trends in child and adolescent obesity in 200 countries.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is not significantly better than a placebo procedure in improving exercise capacity or symptoms even in patients with severe coronary stenosis, according to new UK research. The ORBITA study is the first double blind randomised controlled trial to directly compare stenting with placebo in patients with stable angina who are receiving high quality drug treatment.

A study suggests that high-risk patients are being under-prescribed statins whereas patients in low-risk categories are being overtreated. Researchers have shown that statins are usually prescribed without recording of the QRISK2 cardiovascular risk assessment score recommended by NICE. Even when a score is documented, the majority of high-risk patients do not receive statins