A new British study reports that incidents of fatal heart attacks have declined by more than 50 per cent in England and Canadian counterparts say the good news is also on the rise at home.
After studying national hospital and mortality data from 2002 to 2010, a team of researchers from the University of Oxford’s Public Health Department says that the death rate from heart attacks across England has halved.
There were 840,175 men and women included in the study who had suffered from a total of 861,134 heart attacks between 2002 and 2010 but the death rates in that time fell by 50 per cent for men and 53 per cent for women.
Death rates from heart attacks once sat at about 79 people per 100,000 in men to 39.2 deaths for every 100,000. Women reported 37 deaths per a population of 100,000 in 2002 but by 2010, the death rate decreased to 18 people.
"A declining mortality rate was seen in all age groups and for both sexes," the authors wrote, noting that the greatest dip in heart attack fatalities was recorded in middle-aged people.
Younger populations had higher rates of death - rising obesity and diabetes conditions could be why this group didn't see a decrease in heart attacks, the researchers noted.
The study's complete findings were published Wednesday night in the British Medical Journal.
Meanwhile, in Canada, the mortality rate due to heart attacks has also been steadily declining since the early 1960s, the Heart and Stroke Foundation told Global News on Wednesday.
Between 1969 and 2005, the death rate for heart attacks took a steep decline of more than 75 per cent, says Dr. Beth Abramson, a St. Michael's Hospital cardiologist and spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation Canada.
"This is a good news story that shows treatment and prevention are both effective," Abramson said.
To explain why heart attack rates have decreased so speedily, she pointed to the study, which showed that the prevalence of smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels have decreased in the British national survey data.
There has been an uptake in Canada and the U.K. for drug prescriptions for high blood pressure and cholesterol while intervention treatments, such as angioplasty and stents for heart disease prevention have also improved and increased in popularity.
"That's probably why we see similar trends in Canada, but we can't rest on our laurels and expect that we'll continue on in this very encouraging way," she said.
There are an estimated 70,000 heart attacks each year in Canada - or about one heart attack every seven minutes, Abramson estimates.
Over 16,000 Canadians die each year as a result of a heart attack and most of these deaths occur out of hospital.
Most importantly, Abramson said, one in three deaths in Canada is caused by heart disease and stroke and it remains the leading cause of death for women.
"For the average Canadian, though, much of heart disease is preventable," she said.
Canadians should consider their risks for coronary heart disease - high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, history of heart disease in the family and obesity - and make changes to their lifestyles to improve on health.
Diabetes and obesity rates are steadily climbing but the medical community is unsure of how this will affect the downward trend we're seeing in heart attacks.
Canadians should maintain a healthy body weight, make time for at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week and eat a healthy diet that's low in saturated fat to keep heart disease at bay, Abramson said.
"We have to be aware that we can’t dismiss the problem because of this good news," she said.
View the full study below:
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