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Risks boost heart survival rate
Source: Agencies |
November 17, 2011, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
PEOPLE with the warning signs of heart disease, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, are more likely to survive their hospital stay for a first heart attack than those with a cleaner bill of health, a US study said.
The analysis, which covered more than 500,000 people, found that even when taking into account influences such as age and weight, the more heart-related risk factors that patients had, the lower their chances of dying.
Study leader John Canto wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association: "After adjusting for age and other clinical factors, there was an inverse association between the number of coronary heart disease risk factors and hospital mortality adjusted odds.
"The association was consistent among several age strata and important patient subgroups."
While it may seem counter-intuitive, researchers said one possible explanation for the finding is that people who already have known heart problems might have been on medication, including statins and beta-blockers, that helped to protect them after a heart attack.
Data for the analysis came from a national US registry of close to 500,000 first-time heart attacks between 1994 and 2006. During their hospital stays, doctors noted whether patients had some of the standard risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure or high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and a family history of heart disease.
Among all patients, more than 85 percent had at least one of those risk factors, and people with more of them had their heart attacks younger, on average. Just over 50,000 of the patients died in hospital.
After taking into account the fact that people with no risk factors were often older, and adjusting for weight, race and gender, the study found non-smokers who did not have diabetes, a family history of heart disease or high cholesterol and high blood pressure, were still 50 percent more likely to die in the hospital than people with all those signs.
One in seven of those with none of the heart warning signs died after a heart attack, compared with one in 28 patients who had all the risk factors.
The analysis, which covered more than 500,000 people, found that even when taking into account influences such as age and weight, the more heart-related risk factors that patients had, the lower their chances of dying.
Study leader John Canto wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association: "After adjusting for age and other clinical factors, there was an inverse association between the number of coronary heart disease risk factors and hospital mortality adjusted odds.
"The association was consistent among several age strata and important patient subgroups."
While it may seem counter-intuitive, researchers said one possible explanation for the finding is that people who already have known heart problems might have been on medication, including statins and beta-blockers, that helped to protect them after a heart attack.
Data for the analysis came from a national US registry of close to 500,000 first-time heart attacks between 1994 and 2006. During their hospital stays, doctors noted whether patients had some of the standard risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure or high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and a family history of heart disease.
Among all patients, more than 85 percent had at least one of those risk factors, and people with more of them had their heart attacks younger, on average. Just over 50,000 of the patients died in hospital.
After taking into account the fact that people with no risk factors were often older, and adjusting for weight, race and gender, the study found non-smokers who did not have diabetes, a family history of heart disease or high cholesterol and high blood pressure, were still 50 percent more likely to die in the hospital than people with all those signs.
One in seven of those with none of the heart warning signs died after a heart attack, compared with one in 28 patients who had all the risk factors.
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