Heart Attack Death Rates Have Dropped but Risk Should Not Be Ignored

New statistics from the National Heart Foundation of Australia show heart attack death rates have dropped 39 per cent in the last decade.

The statistics show between 2001 and 2011 the number of deaths dropped dramatically from 14,443 men and women in 2001 to 9,811 men and women in 2011. The  ACT saw the most significant drop of 60 per cent, compared to the Northern Territory that only dropped 28 per cent during the 10 year period.

Heart Foundation’s National CEO Dr Lyn Roberts said while the lower death rate is wonderful news for Australians, high survival rates mean more people are living with heart damage and disability after their heart attack.

“People who have survived a heart attack are also at high risk of having another,” Dr Roberts said.

“Many Australian men and women are missing the message that treatment for heart attack is not a cure for heart disease – they need to adopt a healthy lifestyle and maintain regular reviews with their doctor to prevent a repeat heart attack.

“Really that’s a message for people who are at risk of having a heart attack, as well as those who have had one. “The Heart Foundation also encourages people to do cardiac rehabilitation after a heart attack,” she said.

Across Australia in 2011, 55,000 people were hospitalised because of a heart attack – half of these due to a repeat cardiac event.

“Cardiac rehabilitation is designed to help heart disease and heart attack patients’ return to an active and satisfying life and lowers the risk of a second heart attack,” she said. “It includes physical activity, health education, counselling, behaviour modification strategies and support for self -management.”

Dr Roberts said it was a timely reminder that Governments should do more to fund cardiac rehabilitation services across the country.

“While current cardiac rehabilitation programs exist for patients after a heart attack, these are short-term programs (lasting only a few weeks) and are used by less than a third of heart attack survivors,” she said.

“These programs are haphazard and largely rely on hospitals or health services to fund and run. “If Governments stepped up to better fund and support cardiac rehab services, more heart attack survivors would benefit, and even less Australians would suffer unnecessary health effects, or die because of heart attack,” she added.

For more information about cardiac rehabilitation, visit www.heartfoundation.org.au or phone the Heart Foundation’s Health Information Service on 1300 36 27 87