Odds of surviving heart attacks can be predicted
July 26th, 2011 - 12:05 pm ICT by IANSWashington, July 26 (IANS) Is it possible to predict whether someone is likely to survive or die suddenly from a heart attack? Yes, says a new study.
Researchers found that hypertension, body mass index (BMI), heart rate and additional markers that can be identified by an electrocardiogram (ECG) can differentiate between dying suddenly versus living through a heart attack.
“For some people, the first heart attack is more likely to be their last,” said Elsayed Z. Soliman, director of the Epidemiological Cardiology Research Centre (EPICARE) at Wake Forest Baptist, who led the study.
“For these people especially, it is important that we find ways to prevent that first heart attack from ever happening because their chances of living through it are not as good,” Soliman added, reports the journal Heart.
“Identifying specific predictors that separate the risk of sudden cardiac death from that of non-fatal or not immediately fatal heart attacks would be the first step to address this problem, which was the basis for our study,” Soliman was quoted as saying in a statement by Wake Forest.
Researchers analysed data from two of the largest US cardiovascular studies - the ARIC
(Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) and the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study) - containing records for more than 18,000 participants.
Somewhere between 230,000 and 325,000 people in the US succumb to sudden cardiac death
every year, Soliman said. Most of these sudden deaths are caused by coronary heart disease.
- Sudden cardiac death tied to slower electrical currents - May 22, 2012
- Screening can spot heart conditions in healthy kids - Mar 18, 2011
- Screening can detect potentially serious heart conditions in healthy kids - Mar 18, 2011
- Doctors warn that fat can kill even if person is healthy - Feb 15, 2011
- ECG can also predict heart attacks - Apr 11, 2012
- Obesity is a killer in its own right - Feb 15, 2011
- Seeing forest and trees could help detect heart problems - Jul 27, 2010
- Genetic code of sudden death cardiac killer cracked - Oct 26, 2010
- Polypill 'a viable treatment option for patients at high risk of CVD' - Mar 22, 2011
- Patients receiving dialysis 'at higher risk for sudden cardiac death' - Nov 15, 2010
- New blood test may help predict heart failure risk: Study - Nov 16, 2010
- Early menopause 'doubles risk of heart attack, stroke' - Jun 22, 2010
- Irregular physical activity can trigger heart attacks - Mar 23, 2011
- Women with gout more likely to have heart attack than men - Feb 08, 2010
- Dialysis patients at high risk of cardiac death - Nov 15, 2010
Tags: aric, body mass index, body mass index bmi, cardiology research, cardiovascular health study, cardiovascular studies, coronary heart disease, electrocardiogram ecg, elsayed, epidemiological, fatal heart, first heart attack, forest researchers, heart attack, heart attacks, heart rate, soliman, study researchers, sudden cardiac death, sudden deaths