Ben OsborneImprovements in the nations lifestyle caused by health initiatives such as increasing numbers giving up smoking partly as a result of the introduction of the smoking ban in 2007, the rise in the use of preventive drugs for raised cholesterol and high blood pressure, and better diet, have contributed to halve the death rate from heart attacks in the UK over the last decade.
The study investigated all heart attacks in England between 2002 and 2010, a total of 840,175 people who were admitted to hospital with a heart attack. Improvements in NHS health care in areas such as improved response times for ambulances, quicker diagnosis and drugs such as statins and aspirin.
A lack of improvement in younger people is possibly due to increasing obesity and diabetes, and the greatest decline occurred in men and women in the 65-74 age group.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation and published online in the British Medical Journal, also found localised peaks in heart attacks, which tally with economic downturns in the localities.
An accompanying editorial by Hugh Tunstall-Pedoe, emeritus professor of cardiovascular epidemiology, at the Institute of Cardiovascular Research, University of Dundee, said two other studies had also found a reduction in deaths due to heart attacks.
He said: “It is difficult to believe that big reductions in coronary case fatality over decades are determined exclusively by drugs — perhaps patients are now fitter and coronary episodes less severe.
“Governmental effectiveness cannot be tested in a controlled trial. One indicator is the ability of the health department to counteract vested interests, such as those of the tobacco industry and manufacturers of processed foods, thereby knocking out the props that hold disease rates up.”
Health Minister Simon Burns said: “These improvements are welcome and demonstrate the progress made in tackling heart disease in recent years. But we know we can do better and some areas still lag behind.
“That is why this Government has begun work to develop a Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes Strategy. We will continue to work hard to reduce heart attack deaths all across the country.”
Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “This impressive fall in death rates is due partly to prevention of heart attacks by better management of risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol and due partly to better treatment of heart attack patients when they reach hospital.
“But far too many heart attack victims still die from a cardiac arrest before medical help arrives. Many of these deaths could be prevented by rapid Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). Our message is simple: ‘hands-only’ CPR, as shown by Vinnie Jones, could save many more lives in the future.”
The researchers concluded: “Both prevention of acute myocardial infarction and acute medical treatment have contributed to the decline in deaths from acute myocardial infarction over the past decade.”
