17 August 2011
Scientists in Sheffield have been awarded prestigious grants of nearly £17,000 by the British Heart Foundation as part of a £5 million boost for cardiac research in the UK.
Researchers from the Northern General Hospital scooped £16,920 to study the potential benefit of pole walking on fitness and quality of life for patients with heart and circulatory disease.
Prof Jonathan Beard, consultant vascular surgeon, and Clare Oakley, senior physiotherapist, with support from Nordic Walking UK, will study 50 patients for three months.
Participants will be measured on how far they can walk both with and without the aid of poles, for 30 minutes, three times a week.
The findings of the study will help determine if pole walking could benefit a larger number of patients with a circulatory condition called 'intermittent claudication', which causes pain in the lower leg muscles that goes away on resting for a few minutes.
The charity's special grants are made several times a year to fund research into the causes, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, the UK's biggest killer.