Cardiovascular disease

There are just not enough hours in the day to read all the research journals, even if you wanted to. This section of BJPCN – Evidence in Practice – will keep you on top of relevant research without having to spend hours in the library. Each review gives you a bite-size summary of new research, pulling out key points for primary care and recommending the action that you might consider taking.

Raindrops keep falling on my head’ might have been the theme tune for most of this summer. Hopefully, we might have a drier winter to make up for the downpours we have had over the last few months. But we hope this issue of BJPCN will provide a handy ‘umbrella’ to keep you dry under the storm clouds you might have to face in the day-to-day management of the wide range of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes.

Happy 60th birthday to the NHS! The service has transformed the health of people in this country over its 60 years, and a significant part of this has been in cardiovascular disease and diabetes, the focus of BJPCN. We hope this issue will provide a ‘party bag’ of useful goodies that you can dip into to help in your everyday practice over the next sixty years!

It is hard to believe that time goes so quickly. The spring lambs in the fields are now all fat, while they were small and wobbly not two minutes ago. Summer is on its way – fingers crossed for some balmy days! I have the relief of some respite from travelling round the country delivering training sessions during the summer, as everyone is taking a well-earned break. Reflecting while on the train, I recognised again that I always learn more than the students whenever I teach. I would like to share some of these gems of wisdom so you can think about them over this summer period.

We hope this issue of BJPCN is like an Easter egg – bright and appealing on the outside, with useful articles building a solid structure that you can really get your teeth into and lots of extra chocolates inside to sustain you over the next few weeks.

As the daffodils start to bloom and we move into the Spring of 2008, I hope that BJPCN can help you find fresh resolve and inspiration to cope with the challenges facing primary care nursing in the year ahead.

Well, I hope that I am not the first – or last – to wish you a happy festive season. With the bulk of the flu campaign over – and, I trust, successful – let us take a tentative look into the future. The new Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson, set the scene in his first speech. Can we look forward to a Happy New Year for primary care in 2008?

“To be alive at all involves some risk.” Wise words from a former prime minister, Harold McMillan. In terms of preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD), we recognise that everyone who is still breathing is at some risk, but we calculate their risk of a cardiovascular event to assess what preventive action is warranted. New approaches developed for the UK look set to Jan Procter-King make our risk estimates more accurate.