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The Beat

Exciting new research is set to improve the outlook for patients suffering from a common heart disorder by treating their quality of sleep.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common heart condition which causes the heart to beat out of rhythm.

Did you know there is a link between AF and obstructive sleep apnoea?Obstructive sleep apnoea is four times more common among patients with AF than those without, despite many AF sufferers not reporting symptoms of sleep apnoea such as daytime sleepiness.

New research being undertaken by cardiologist Associate Professor Dominik Linz through the Royal Adelaide Hospital and University of Adelaide, seeks to clarify the link between sleep apnoea and AF to improve outcomes for patients.

A/Prof Linz said early findings saw treating sleep apnoea via a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) mask improved patients’ AF symptoms by up to 40 per cent.

“A CPAP mask is commonly used when treating obstructive sleep apnoea, which involves the patient wearing a hose and mask or nosepiece to deliver constant and steady air pressure while sleeping,” A/Prof Linz said.

“When a CPAP mask is worn, it can reduce the risk of people acquiring AF by 40 per cent.“For AF patients who had undergone a catheter ablation (a procedure to stop abnormal electrical signals in heart tissue), wearing the mask saw the risk of AF recurring reduced by 30 to 40 per cent.

“The CPAP machine was also found to reduce blood pressure and help to control drug resistant hypertension.

“Importantly, patients who start this treatment say they inexplicably felt better, even though they didn’t indicate they had daytime sleepiness before.”Given AF is the underlying cause of a third of all strokes, this ground-breaking research could save the lives of many people suffering from AF.

A/Prof Linz is planning to build on these findings in a study with 800 AF patients, thanks to funding from Australian Heart Research (AHR).

“Patients will undergo overnight sleep studies where we’ll measure the arrhythmogenic electrophysiological changes.

“We aim to identify the mechanisms behind how sleep apnoea leads to AF in patients and ways to better determine sleep apnoea severity and guide treatment.

“We hope it will translate to better individualised treatment strategies of obstructive sleep apnoea in patients with AF.”

You can support revolutionary research like this by becoming part of our Beating Hearts community as a regular giver! Simply fill out the enclosed coupon or get in touch with us via contactus@ausheartresearch.com.au or (08) 8244 0591.

Edition 2, 2019

A/Prof Dominik Linz

“Thanks to people like Rachael we can make an impact on the lives of people living with heart disease.”

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A Personal Reflection

Loving mother-of-seven, Rachael Whittaker shares a personal reflection on why she decided to generously donate towards medical research through Australian Heart Research…“Medical research is important to help save lives and improve people’s lives after an event. I donate to Australian Heart Research, Australian Breast Cancer Research and soon Kidney, Transplant and Diabetes Research Australia* as there are personal connections and motivations for each disease and it’s a way I can still help and care for others.

My background is as a clinical nurse at the paediatrics ward at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and I’ve also completed placements in Alice Springs and surrounding areas. Heart and kidney disease, diabetes and cancer were some of the health issues I encountered during my three years as a nurse.

During this time, I got married and started a family, seven kids and 13 years later my nursing career is long faded into the background. After seeing disease and illness affect people, both children and adults, I wanted to help support those affected and seek prevention for others.

Donating towards these causes is something I observed from my parents and their example motivated us to do the same.

Unfortunately, when I was seven months pregnant with my first child and what would have been my mother’s first grandchild, my mother died of

Rachael with her family

* Australian Heart Research, Australian Breast Cancer Research and Kidney, Transplant and Diabetes Research Australia are all charities part of The Hospital Research Foundation Group. Together, we can fight these diseases and save lives!

cancer at the age of 53. She had several bouts of breast cancer from when I was just five years old until 20 years old. She was then diagnosed with bone cancer and passed away three years later.Another battle came in December 2015 when my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and was only seven at the time. Another battle came 18 months ago as my father-in-law had a triple heart bypass, thankfully he is going well now.

I’ve been home caring for my kids for almost 14 years and giving to AHR not only contributes to continued research and patient care, it gives me a sense of doing something – acting, caring and actively helping the community and society as a whole.”

We appreciate the support from all our generous donors!

You can join the fight by filling out the enclosed coupon or contact us via contactus@ausheartresearch.com.au or 08 8244 0591!

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Vicki’s Brave Battle

Recently, we shared a letter to our community regarding Grant Octoman, who suffered a stroke, brought on by Atrial Fibrillation (AF). This story resonated with one of our regular givers, Vicki Khor.

Passionate about supporting AHR, Vicki told her story in a past newsletter as she had suffered ongoing heart issues due to the sudden passing of her loving husband of almost 40 years, Ron.

“Ron’s passing was a complete shock and left me extremely fragile. I suffered from Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, also known as broken heart syndrome,” Vicki said.

Unfortunately for Vicki, her health battles continued and not long after, she was diagnosed with AF, a condition making the heart beat out of rhythm.

What Vicki didn’t know was that AF contributes to a third of all strokes, a fact she only discovered whilst reading about Grant’s health battle with AF.

“Earlier this year I suffered a stroke affecting the left side of my brain and my right eye, losing complete vision,” Vicki said.“I didn’t feel the usual symptoms of getting a stroke. I couldn’t sleep properly, and I felt there was something wrong with my eye. From there I ended up in hospital where I received the news I had a stroke and my vision wouldn’t return.

“I only made the connection through Grant’s story shared by AHR so I was quite shocked to find out my stroke may have been caused due to my underlying issue of AF.”

How our funding is helping people like VickiThanks to our generous donor community, AHR is funding a specialised, multi-disciplinary clinic at the Royal Adelaide Hospital that has an integrated care (i-CARE) approach to the management of AF, led by duo Professor Prashanthan Sanders and Dr Jeroen Hendriks.

The i-CARE clinic combines the important care components for AF and ensures collaboration between specialists, nurses and allied professionals all while maintaining a patient-centred approach to treatment.

“I believe our clinic will save lives and prevent life-threatening outcomes for those who suffer from AF,” Dr Hendriks said. “I think the way forward is to redesign our care processes for treating AF. If we don’t, the prevalence will continue to rise.”

Vicki is optimistic and enjoying life despite her setbacks. She hopes her donations to AHR will help in the fight against heart disease, so no one goes through the same health issues as her.

“I continue living my life and am very grateful that my stroke wasn’t debilitating. I have great faith in our researchers and hope that through my donations, they are one step closer to beating heart disease.”

Vicki with her loving husband Ron

Grant and Turbo

You can help people like Vicki and Grant by joining our Beating Hearts community of regular givers!

Simply fill out the enclosed coupon or contact us via contactus@ausheartresearch.com.au or 08 8244 0591.

A fascination for cardiothoracic surgery and passion for helping others led Dr Timothy Surman to his most recent challenge – a PhD project focussing on the aorta to prevent aortic injury.

Through his research, Dr Surman aims to understand how to best identify patients who are going to have an emergency tear in the aorta. This will then determine whether an invasive or non-invasive method is recommended to repair the damage in the most resilient way.

“We would like to identify better ways to predict those patients who are at greatest risk of aortic injury, determine the best way to repair the tissues of the aorta and predict the changes this surgery will have on how the heart functions post recovery.

“This will ensure that we optimise aortic surgery in a way that influences every patient’s quality of life for the better.”

Thanks to AHR’s generous donors, research like Dr Surman’s can improve the lives and health of heart patients.We look forward to keeping you updated on this lifesaving research.

Meet the researcher: Dr Tim Surman

(08) 8244 0591 australianheartresearch.com.au

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Have you been touched by heart disease?Have you been touched by heart disease?We would love to share your story! Email us at contactus@ausheartresearch.com.au or call (08) 8244 0591.

“I was always fascinated by the anatomy of the major vessels of the heart and lungs, and nothing is more major than the aorta itself,” Dr Surman said.

“I also had a desire to explore the outcomes of the evolving area of aortic valve surgery; which in recent times is involving less invasive techniques, faster recovery times and a quicker transition home for the patient.”

Dr Surman’s career has taken a different path to his peers and his latest research, funded through AHR, hopes to personalise treatment for patients requiring aortic valve replacement. “I was a dentist before I was a medical doctor, so I always had a passion for healthcare and helping people. I decided to specialise in cardiothoracic surgery after completing an honours degree at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

“The science, the surgical challenge and the opportunity to work with patients over their lifetime and as part of a multidisciplinary team drew me towards a career in cardiothoracic surgery.”

Thanks to AHR’s generous donors, research like Dr Surman’s can improve the lives and health of heart patients.