East Germans die more frequently from heart attacks

East Germans die more frequently from heart attacks

According to a study, people in East Germany die more frequently from heart attacks than in the West. While regional differences such as unemployment and poverty may explain this, other causes need to play a major role.

According to a study by the German Society for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (DGTHG) and the German Society for Cardiac Technology, East Germans are more likely to die as a result of a heart attack than in the West. According to study results, the mortality rate is lowest in the federal states of Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg. By contrast, the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg have the highest mortality rates. For example, the death rate in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg is 18.1 percent lower than in the federal average. In Saxony-Anhalt, by contrast, the mortality rate is 23.2 percent higher than the national average. The results of the study were based on data from 2008. During this period, a total of 56,775 people died of a heart attack. The heart report was presented on Friday by the two companies in Duisburg.

A heart attack is an acute emergency
A heart attack is considered a medical emergency that needs to be treated very quickly. It is an acute circulatory disorder due to a vascular occlusion of parts of the heart muscle. Inevitably, parts of the heart muscle die as a result of the low blood flow. The reasons for a heart attack are very different. Most commonly, the infarction is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. Lack of exercise, obesity, smoking and genetic disposition increase the risk of serious cardiovascular disease. In most cases, essential factors combine to increase the risk of myocardial infarction. Patients affected by an infarct at the heart must receive rapid medical help. It is indispensable that the quality and speed of the rescue service is guaranteed. In the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, for example, the emergency services are required to be at an emergency site within twelve minutes. If the rescue service takes half an hour, it can be too late in the event of a heart attack.

According to Prof. Friedhelm Beyersdorf, President of the Heart Society DGTHG, factors such as high unemployment may play a role, but can not explain the high death rate in East Germany alone. Because there are also regions in Germany with a high heart attack death rate, without a high unemployment rate would exist. „Ultimately, we can only speculate about the causes“, so beyersdorf.

Other studies indicate at least that there is a connection between unemployment and sick leave. The sick leave is usually higher for the unemployed than for employees subject to social security contributions. However, there are no figures or studies that point to an increased risk of death among the unemployed.

Survival rate for bypass surgery is constantly high
As the heart society further informs, the survival rate in bypass operations has been at a constant 97 percent for many years. And that, although the proportion of older patients has increased significantly. Elderly people also have other risk factors, such as type II diabetes and high blood pressure, in addition to heart disease. In heart aortic valve surgery, the success rate has risen to as high a value as the bypasses. (gr, 01.10.2010)

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