 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Good news: not only has the rate of heart disease deaths decreased, but the severity of first heart attacks has dropped as well.
Researchers say better management of risk factors like blood pressure and cholesterol as well as improved hospital management may be to thank for the reduction in coronary distress in the United States. Data shows over the last two decades, there has been a reduction in heart attack severity and an increase in survival rates among first-time heart attack sufferers.
Text Continues Below
"The reduction in severity of first-time heart attacks, along with other factors, has impacted on the declining number of deaths from coronary heart disease," Merle Myerson, M.D., lead author of the study, cardiologist and director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Program at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital of Columbia University in New York City, was quoted as saying. "This tells us that better primary prevention as well as better care for those with acute heart attacks is working. Attributing the reduction in severity to specific causes will be an important next step so effective strategies can be reinforced and public health policies can be better directed."
Assessment of heart attach severity was based on electrocardiogram (EKG) finings, levels of enzymes associated with heart muscle damage and abnormalities related to blood flow and blood pressure. Rates of decline were the same for men, women and blacks.
SOURCE: Circulation, 2009
Sign up for a free weekly e-mail on Medical Breakthroughs called First to Know by clicking here.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
|
.gif)
