Improvements in the identification of individuals with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) through cardiac screening, together with advances in medical therapies and interventions, have resulted in a growing population of individuals with HCM who are keen to engage in exercise. However, there are no formal HCM cardiac rehabilitation programmes, and individuals with HCM are less likely to meet recommended levels of physical activity, placing them at higher risk of cardiovascular disease and other health-related issues associated with physical inactivity.
This is compounded by the fact that there is a lack of high-quality evidence supporting exercise recommendations, variation in clinical phenotypes within the same condition, and limited physician education around exercise prescription. However, recent evidence suggests that certain individuals with HCM may be able to engage in higher intensities of exercise.
Moving Medicine, developed by the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine in partnership with Public Health England and Sport England, was officially launched by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care at the 7th International Society for Physical Activity and Health Congress in London (2018). This online resource was developed to assist physical activity conversations between healthcare professionals and their patients by adopting a motivational interviewing framework and evidence-based recommendations.
Utilising this framework, we have developed a new HCM Moving Medicine Module, which provides healthcare professionals and patients with essential, evidence-based information to address common concerns surrounding physical activity in HCM. This module highlights the benefits of physical activity in this population and provides a structure to enable effective conversations, which empower individuals with HCM to incorporate physical activity into their daily lives.
Dr Joyee Basu graduated from Oxford University in 2010. Following her appointment as a Cardiology Registrar, she was awarded a competitive Cardiac Risk in the Young Clinical Research Fellowship, where she spent three years furthering her interests in Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICCs) and Sports Cardiology. She has extensive experience of cardiac screening in young individuals, both in general and elite athletic populations.
In 2021, she completed her PhD entitled ‘Novel Insights into High-Intensity Exercise Prescription in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM)’. This work, recently published in the European Heart Journal, won Best Abstract at the British Cardiovascular Society conference and was also shortlisted for national and international Young Investigator Awards.
Now a Consultant in Inherited Cardiac Conditions (ICC) and Heart Failure, Joyee is deeply committed to promoting exercise in underserved patient groups and has recently authored a practical guide for health professionals on risk stratification and exercise prescription in ICCs. Most recently, Dr Basu has co-created the first nationally available exercise consultation guide for patients with HCM and their healthcare providers, as part of the Moving Medicine initiative.
Dr Felicity Hughes is currently an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Sport and Exercise Medicine based in Oxford, with research interests including the use of physical activity as preventative medicine. Prior to entering Sport and Exercise Medicine training, she completed ACCS Emergency Medicine training in the South West of England, before moving to North Wales to undertake a clinical fellow post in pre-hospital emergency medicine.
Outside of hospital medicine, Dr Hughes has a strong interest in expedition medicine and has provided medical care on expeditions to remote jungle, desert, and mountain environments.
