12
Joining the national
effort to tackle
Covid-19
We are committed to supporting our community, both locally and nationally, in
the response to Covid-19. Staff, students and partners of Keele University have
come together to help in these unique times, fulfilling the University’s civic duty
and truly embracing its founding principles.
OUR RESEARCH
Heart attack sufferers in England
missed out on lifesaving hospital
treatment due to pandemic.
The number of people admitted
to hospital due to heart attacks in
England fell by 35% during the start of
the Covid-19 pandemic, according to
new research.
Professor Mamas Mamas, a
Cardiologist at Keele University,
has been part of a research team
with Oxford University analysing
the number of patients admitted to
hospitals in England with suspected
heart attacks during the pandemic.
The team, whose study has been
published in The Lancet, compared the
numbers of heart attack admissions
between mid-February and the end of
March this year with the figures for the
same period last year.
They found that the number of patients
admitted with suspected heart attacks
had fallen by 35% by the end of
March and that overall, by May, there
had been about 5,000 fewer patients
admitted with heart attacks.
Their findings suggest that many
patients may have been suffering from
heart attacks at home and not seeking
potentially life-saving medical attention
because they were worried about
catching Covid-19 in hospital.
Researchers to trial new
intervention to prevent older people
from being lonely during lockdown
Researchers are to trial an intervention
aimed at preventing the onset of
depression and loneliness among the
most vulnerable in society as a result
of the Covid-19 lockdown.
Enforced isolation, whether due to
shielding or self-isolation, causes
disruption to daily routines, loss of
social contact and loneliness which
can lead to mental ill-health. Many
more people will now be isolated as
the lockdown continues for particular
sections of society.
Previous research has found that
isolation is likely to impact significantly
on the mental health of vulnerable
populations. Older people, and those
with long-term conditions, represent
a high risk group, whose risk of
depression is already increased by
approximately two to three times.
Keele conservationist to study
how urban wildlife is responding to
Covid-19 lockdown