Heart health and prevention
Knowing your risk, and what to do about it.
Cholesterol, blood pressure and inherited risk rarely announce themselves. Dr Jogiya has a specialist interest in cardiovascular disease prevention and risk factor management, and a prevention appointment looks at those things together rather than one at a time.
This page is about lowering risk rather than treating something that is happening now. Chest pain that does not settle, sudden severe breathlessness, or a collapse needs emergency care, so call 999. For urgent advice that is not an emergency, call 111. If you already have a symptom, start with the symptom guide.
Why it has its own appointment
Risk factors do not act one at a time.
Cholesterol, blood pressure, family history and blood sugar are usually measured at different times and in different places. A cardiology appointment is a chance to look at them together, in one person, rather than at any single reading on its own.
Dr Jogiya has a specialist interest in cardiovascular disease prevention and risk factor management, including hypertension, high cholesterol, and people with a strong family history of heart disease. He is Clinical Director at the Health Innovation Network South London, where his work on cardiovascular disease prevention was recognised at the Houses of Parliament.
This sits alongside NHS care rather than replacing it. Your GP remains the right first call for anything new or worrying, and Dr Jogiya also sees NHS patients at Kingston Hospital and at Guy's and St Thomas'.
An appointment is a consultation, not a screening package. He will take a full history, examine you, go through the readings and results you already have, and explain which of them matter for you. Where an investigation is warranted he will explain which one and what it would tell you.
You do not need a referral from your GP to see Dr Jogiya privately.
What he looks at
The parts of cardiovascular risk worth taking seriously.
High cholesterol
A lipid panel is one of the standard blood tests in a cardiovascular assessment. Dr Jogiya will go through what the results mean alongside the rest of your history rather than reading a single number on its own.
Lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a)
Lp(a) is a type of lipoprotein carried in the blood. The British Heart Foundation explains that your level is set by the genes you get from your biological parents and is not affected by lifestyle, which is why it is worth raising where heart disease has appeared early in a family. It is not a test that is done routinely, so whether it is worth checking is a conversation to have in clinic.
High blood pressure
Blood pressure is usually silent, which is why it is measured rather than felt. Where a reading needs confirming, an ambulatory monitor worn for 24 hours records measurements through the day and night and gives an average rather than a single snapshot. See high blood pressure and low blood pressure.
A strong family history
Where heart disease has appeared early in close relatives, that belongs in front of a cardiologist rather than in the background. Patients with a strong family history are part of his stated specialist interest, and where an inherited cause such as familial hypercholesterolaemia is a possibility it is something to discuss and investigate further.
What an assessment covers
A thorough cardiovascular assessment includes a proper history and examination, blood pressure, blood tests such as a lipid panel and HbA1c, an ECG, and where indicated an echocardiogram to look at the structure and function of the heart muscle. Accurate assessment allows treatment to be tailored to the individual. See the tests he arranges.
Coronary artery disease and the risk factors behind it
Coronary artery disease is a narrowing of the arteries that supply the heart with blood. Prevention work is aimed at the risk factors that drive it, and at addressing them before they cause symptoms. See coronary artery disease and angina.
Imaging of the coronary arteries
Dr Jogiya has written about coronary calcium scoring and about CT coronary angiography, what each scan involves and what a result can show. Whether either would add anything for you is a question for the consultation.
Statins and lipid lowering treatment
Different medicines suit different people, and the first medicine tried is not always the most suitable one. Where a statin has not agreed with you, reviewing the treatment is part of the work rather than the end of it. Any change to a prescribed medicine is a decision to make with the doctor who prescribed it, not on your own.
The rest of the picture
Cardiovascular risk does not sit only in the heart. Blood sugar, weight, sleep, alcohol and how active you are all feed into it, and they are part of the same conversation rather than a separate one.
Behind the advice
National prevention work, brought into the clinic.
Dr Jogiya is Clinical Director at the Health Innovation Network South London, where he was honoured as a Healthcare Pioneer at the Houses of Parliament for his work in cardiovascular disease prevention. Under his leadership he has helped shape national cardiovascular prevention strategies and secured funding for lipid management and digital health initiatives.
He is Chief Medical Advisor at Heart Research UK and sits on several national advisory panels, including NICE and the NHS Innovation Accelerator. He is an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London and has authored peer reviewed publications.
Appointments are available face to face at his private clinics across Kingston upon Thames and London, or by video from anywhere in the UK.
Trusted information
Where to read more.
- High cholesterol, British Heart Foundation
- High lipoprotein (a), British Heart Foundation
- Familial hypercholesterolaemia, British Heart Foundation
- High blood pressure, NHS
- Statins, NHS
This page is general information about cardiovascular risk and prevention, not individual medical advice. If you have chest pain, sudden breathlessness or you collapse, call 999.
Next step
See how your risk factors add up
A prevention appointment goes through your cholesterol, your blood pressure and your family history in one place, with the time to talk about what they mean together. Face to face at his private clinics across Kingston upon Thames and London, or by video from anywhere in the UK.