After Heart Attack, New Threat: Heart Failure | WPN World People News

Risk of heart failure appears high within a few years of a first heart attack, a new study finds.

"Heart failure is a major medical problem with a high chance of hospitalization and death," said expert.

Heart failure means the heart can't pump blood efficiently enough to meet the body's demands.

Improved heart attack treatment has led to higher survival rates, leaving more patients susceptible to later heart failure, expert said.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 25,000 people in the United Kingdom who suffered a first heart attack. Nearly 25 percent of these patients developed heart failure within four years, the investigators found.

Certain risk factors increased the risk of heart failure after a first heart attack, expert said. For example, every 10-year rise in age was associated with a 45 percent higher risk, and the poorest patients had a 27 percent increased risk.

Atrial fibrillation -- a condition characterized by an abnormal heartbeat -- and diabetes also significantly increased the risk of heart failure, by 63 percent and 44 percent, respectively.

Other health conditions associated with a higher risk of heart failure after a first heart attack included: peripheral arterial disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), high blood pressure, and a type of heart attack known as STEMI (ST elevation myocardial infarction).

"Patients with ischemic heart disease are at the highest risk [for heart failure]. This includes those who have had a myocardial infarction, also called heart attack," expert said.

"Research studying incidence of heart failure following [heart attack] is limited and mainly stems from the thrombolytic era, when drugs were used to dissolve blood clots," he explained. Today, stenting is the preferred treatment for heart attack, where a small mesh tube is used to open the blocked artery, expert said.

On the one hand, stenting has improved treatment for heart attack, so the risk of heart failure would be expected to decrease, expert said. "On the other hand, because treatment has improved, more patients are alive after a heart attack to subsequently get heart failure," expert added.

"Finding which heart attack patients are most likely to get heart failure would help us target preventive therapies," expert said.

Source: HealthDay News