27th Jan 12
Heart attack deaths halved over last decade
by Paul Russell
Heart of the matter: hospital study shows heart attacks down
Heart of the matter: hospital study shows heart attacks down
The heart attack death rate in England has halved during the last decade, revealed a study from Oxford University.
The research, which has been published in the British Medical Journal, studied over 800,000 people who suffered heart attacks from 2002 to 2010. They discovered that there were fewer heart attacks in the later years and that fewer were fatal. The researchers said that better prevention measures and improvements in NHS care have contributed to the decrease.
The researchers from Oxford used mortality and national hospital data to analyse 840,175 people in England who between them had suffered 861,134 heart attacks in the eight-year period. Looking at 2002 compared to those in 2010, they found that the rates dropped by 50 per cent in men and 53 per cent in women. There was also a declining mortality rate for both sexes and in all ages.
The research concluded that a little over half of the fall in deaths is a result of the decline in the amount of new heart attacks, while just under half was down to a drop in the death rate following a heart attack. However, the greatest decline rates were seen between people in the 65-74 age bracket and the lowest among those in the 30-54 age bracket and 85 and above.
The study said that increasing rates of diabetes and obesity could explain why heart attacks among those in the youngest age group have seen little improvement in occurrence rates.
The factors behind the decline in the heart attack rate varied by sex, age and geographical location. The authors of the research said that further studies were needed in order to gain a better understanding of the specific prevention and treatment factors which have led to the decline in death rates.
Meanwhile, British Heart Foundation medical director Prof Peter Weissberg said that there was still much to be done in order to reduce unnecessary deaths. He explained that the impressive decline in death rates is partly due to preventing heart attacks by improved management of risk factors like smoking, cholesterol and high blood pressure and partly due to an improved level of treatment of heart attack sufferers when they arrive at hospital.
However, he went on to say that way too many people who have heart attacks die as a result of a cardiac arrest before the arrival of medical help. He added that rapid cardiopulmonary resuscitation could prevent many of these deaths.
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