More heart attack deaths in the east than in the west

Mortality higher in the east than in the west

10/10/2013

Progress in medicine is benefiting cardiac patients. Life is prolonged and the quality of life is getting better and better. However, if one looks at the distribution of fatal heart attacks in Germany, the risk in the East is higher than in the western federal states. About the causes is speculated. According to an evaluation of the German Society of Cardiology (DGK) on the subject of regional heart attack mortality, fewer and fewer people in Germany are dying of heart attacks.

According to the regional data on heart attack mortality collected in the German Heart Report 2011, the likelihood of an infarction is almost twice as high in Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Saxony as in Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse, Berlin, Baden-Württemberg or Bavaria Only Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has a relatively low value in the East with 77 heart attack deaths per 100,000 inhabitants and stands out "positively". The bottom is Berlin with 56 heart attack deaths per 100,000 people. By comparison, in Saxony-Anhalt the mortality rate is 111 people per 100,000 per year.

"About causes can currently only be speculated," said DGK President Christian Hamm. Although in the past 20 years tremendous success in the field of heart medicine can be recorded. "Almost half of the increase in life expectancy in Germany goes back to them." The mortality rate of heart attack patients attending the hospital halved to five to six percent. According to the statistics, 52,113 people (6.1 percent) in Germany succumbed to a heart attack in 2011. Compared to 2000, 18.4 percent fewer women and 15.8 percent fewer men died.

Significant improvement in acute care
According to the DGK, the acute care of heart attack patients is at a very good level. In almost 90 percent of patients, the circulation of the heart muscle can be restored. The only downer: more and more people are getting older, and so is the risk of developing heart failure. The experts also warn that the trend towards a healthier lifestyle is undermining advances in early detection and treatment. "Obesity and diabetes are increasing alarmingly, the proportion of smokers is on the whole hardly back," said Hamm. The success, which can be achieved for example by drugs in lowering blood pressure or blood lipid levels are relativized. Therefore, more prevention programs need to be developed to help patients change their lifestyle.

Symptoms are often underestimated
According to the cardiologists, the symptoms of a heart attack are still too often underestimated. "Too many people who feel chest pressure or arrhythmia usually think that is over again," said DGK spokesman Professor Eckart Fleck. In order to be treated faster and more efficiently, an early education of people, combined with training sessions, for example, at school and later at work, needed, said Fleck, who practices at the German Heart Center Berlin. There are companies, where this belongs to employee training. "That's not enough, because that is usually repressed and forgotten."

According to Fleck potential rescuers are often overwhelmed on the first attempt with the not easy situation. "If anyone could, more affected people would survive." In public places with larger crowds such as airports or train stations, the installed defibrillators are used less frequently than previously thought.

With rhythm disturbances every second counts
It counts in heart attacks, if the person falls over, every second. "The likelihood of damage increases over time," Fleck explained. "If the heart returns to normal rhythm in the first three minutes, it's good." The longer it takes, the more unlikely it will be without damage. "The moment the metabolism of the heart and brain is interrupted, the clock is running." The DGK estimates that there are 250,000 heart attacks nationwide each year. With a share of 68 percent, cardiovascular diseases are still the leading cause of death. For specialists, the DGK autumn conference offers the opportunity for further education and training. The focus is on rhythm problems but also devices, implants, pacemakers and defibrillators as well as medications are presented. According to recent studies, exercise can also prolong life in heart failure, Fleck said. "Doing nothing is worse than doing something, even with limited heart function." (Fr)