- For further information about keeping your heart healthy, or on supporting the campaign visit www.bhf.org.uk or call 0845 241 0976.

- Use an inspiring cookery book, Healthy Heart Cookbook [Bonnier, £12.99], which is packed with tips and recipes so you can tastily lose weight and lower cholesterol. Call: 01235 465 535/www.marston.co.uk

- A simple blood test could reduce heart failure deaths, according to a new American study.

The test picks up the hormone B-type natriuretic peptide, BNP, released by the heart when it's stressed or damaged. A study of 48,000 patients found those with the highest levels had the highest death rate.

By routinely testing heart patients on admission to hospital, doctors can predict those most at risk and target them for intensive treatment.

Research leader Dr Gregg Fonarow from the University of California, Los Angeles says: "This is the first study to demonstrate a connection between BNP and mortality risk among heart failure patients." Forty per cent of heart failure patients die within a year.