January 25, 2012
Heart attack deaths fall by half – but there’s still a
long way to go
Statistics show heart attack death rates dropped
dramatically in the early years of the new millennium, falling by
more than half.
The research, which we funded, looked at the
number of people who had a heart attack in each year between
2002-10. The figures show the rate of heart attacks fell by an
impressive five per cent each
year.
For people who did have a heart attack, the
chance of dying fell even more dramatically, by nine
per cent a year. These figures are true for both women and
men.
But the hard work is far from over.
Hands-only CPR, as shown by Vinnie Jones, could save many more lives
Our
Medical Director,
Professor Peter
Weissberg, 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 study was from our Health Promotion
Research Group at the University of Oxford. It was published in
the British Medical Journal.