Research at Heartbeat
Through high quality, ethically-approved research we can improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. Here at Heartbeat we are to keen to facilitate research so please get in touch if you have a project of your own you would like to discuss.
Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is an atherosclerotic disease that causes narrowing of the arteries in the legs and affects over 237 million adults worldwide. The severity of PAD ranges from intermittent claudication (IC) which presents as pain in the buttocks/legs when walking, through to critical limb threatening ischemia (CLTI) which presents as constant pain day and night, and is often accompanied by ulcers, tissue loss and/or gangrene.
As well as the risk of losing a limb, there is a significant risk of heart attack, stroke and death, so improving physical function (such as walking distance and strength), and enhancing quality of life is the predominant goal to treat this disease. Research is needed so that guidelines to treat patients with PAD are more specific.
Meet the Research Team
Jo Duff
Hi I’m Joanne Duff, a Clinical Physiologist at Heartbeat and PhD researcher with Manchester Metropolitan University. We know that an Exercise and Education Programme benefits those who have had surgery to improve blood flow to their heart, but nobody has done research to see if an Exercise & Education Programme benefits those who have had surgery to improve blood flow to their legs….until now!
Dr Sally Seed
My name is Sally and I am a British Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention Instructor at Heartbeat and completed my PhD in early 2024, investigating the optimal level of claudication pain for patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). My research explored whether patients benefit most from walking to maximal pain, moderate pain or stopping at pain-free stages during supervised exercise programmes.
Before this work, Heartbeat did not receive any PAD referrals. I worked with a multi-disciplinary team to create a brand-new referral pathway, which has been highly successful. We now run four dedicated PAD supervised exercise classes twice a week across our Preston and Chorley sites, helping patients improve walking ability, reduce symptoms, and enhance quality of life.
Ellis Whorlton-Jones
I’m Ellis, a researcher in clinical exercise physiology and I’m currently looking into how exercise can manage and treat peripheral arterial disease. More specifically, my research is aiming to understand how arteries adapt to exercising at different levels of intensity or pain. So far we know that exercising will improve blood flow to the affected area, but we know much less about the mechanisms behind this process. I am using ultrasound and blood tests to measure for changes within the body, as well assessing for other indicators of cardiovascular disease. The aims of the research are to hopefully impact future exercise guidelines for patients with peripheral arterial disease.
Would you like to get involved?
Before we run this research trial we are asking patients with CLTI and health professionals who have experience with CLTI to help design the Exercise and Education Programme.
You will be required to complete 2 short surveys which will ask for your views and opinions on exercise and education (all answers will be anonymous). If you complete the surveys you will also have the option to register your interest to attend our workshop where we will finalise the design of the programme. This is optional but we welcome your opinion and we would like an equal number of patient and professional representatives to attend.
You can click on the link below to access the survey or you can contact myself to request a paper copy.
Link to survey 1: [inset URL]
If you have an questions about this research project please email me: joanne.duff@stu.mmu.ac.uk