Royal Papworth staff were among a team of cyclists who arrived at the hospital last night (25 October) at the halfway point of a 230-mile tour to raise awareness about Pulmonary Hypertension (PH).
PVDU administrator Michaela Parr, who is taking on the whole tour with eight others from various UK PH centres, was joined by day rider Dr Guillermo Martinez. Dr Jas Parmar will also be taking part when he joins the last stage of the tour today (26 October).
The Royal Papworth reception, in the hospital’s lecture theatre, included a welcome from the Trust’s Lead Governor Dr Richard Hodder, who has himself been treated for PH at the hospital, Dr Dolores Taboada, Consultant in Pulmonary Vascular Disease, patients and charity representatives.
The cyclists, who began their tour of key PH centres at the Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK (PHA) offices in Sheffield on Wednesday (24 October), will finish at Imperial College London today (26 October), which has research links to both the Hammersmith Hospital and Royal Brompton Hospital (both PH specialist centres), where a closing event will be held.
Along the route, a series of inspirational and educational awareness events are being held for those impacted by PH, including patients and their friends and families, as part of Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Week (22- 28 October 2018).
PH is a serious condition, which affects over 7,000 people in the UK. It creates high blood pressure in the blood vessels that supply the lungs (pulmonary arteries), which can damage the right side of the heart. This can lead to heart failure, which can be fatal. One of the challenges with PH is that the symptoms, which include breathlessness, tiredness, feeling faint or dizzy and swelling in the legs, ankles, feet or stomach area, are often misdiagnosed for other, less severe conditions. Therefore PH can remain undiagnosed for years, having a detrimental impact on patient prognosis and quality of life.
For more information on PH, Team PHenomenal Hope UK and Ireland and the tour please visit the Facebook page and public websites: www.phauk.org; https://www.pulmonaryhypertension.ie/pha-ireland.
To support the team and the event on social media, please use the hashtag: #TeamPHenomenalHopeUKIreland