What is structural heart disease?
Heart disease is responsible for one death every three minutes in the UK and we know that diet and exercise helps us maintain a healthy heart. In this episode, Anna Richardson talks to Dr Mike Mullen, consultant cardiologist at HCA Healthcare UK’s The Harley Street Clinic about the kind of heart disease which no amount of diet and exercise can solve - structural heart disease.
Listen now to Getting to the heart of it:

Episode 16 - Getting to the heart of it
For many of us, the increased public focus on living healthier lives is certainly a step in the right direction for preventing heart problems.
However, as Anna finds out from Mike when it comes to structural heart disease, which can affect even the fittest amongst us - understanding more about heart attack symptoms such as frequent breathlessness is vital to managing the condition correctly.
This was recently proved by none other than Mick Jagger, who after undergoing heart valve replacement surgery was back soon back to living his normal life and doing those dance moves we all know and love!
Listen now
What we learned in this cardiac podcast episode
Heart disease Fact
Heart Fact
Structural heart disease Fact
Open heart disease Fiction
Useful links from this cardiac episode
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Dr Mike Mullen
Mike Mullen is a Consultant Cardiologist at HCA Healthcare UK’s The Harley Street Clinic, his NHS base is at the Barts Heart Centre in London, where he is the lead for structural heart intervention. He is internationally recognised for his expertise in the treatment of structural heart disease, with nearly 20 years of experience in this field.
Mike’s areas of clinical expertise include valvular heart disease, patent foramen ovale (PFO), atrial septal defect (ASD), aortic coarctation and other congenital heart diseases. He has played a key role in the development of many new technologies for the treatment of these conditions and their introduction into the UK, including transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), MitraClip and suture closure of patent foramen ovale.
Mike is frequently invited to give lectures and live demonstrations at national and international conferences.




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