Having a heart attack significantly increases your risk of developing other serious long-term health conditions, a major new study shows.

In the largest study of its kind, researchers at the University of Leeds looked at all adult patients hospitalized over nine years to establish the risk of long-term health effects after a heart attack. Analyzed over 145 million records.

Heart attacks are serious and life-threatening illnesses, but the British Heart Foundation estimates that more than seven in 10 people can now survive a heart attack if they receive prompt emergency treatment to get blood flowing back into the heart muscle. doing.

However, previous research has shown that heart attacks can affect a patient’s health, including further symptoms that affect the heart and circulatory system, as well as other parts of the body and mental health. It has also been shown to include symptoms that affect the condition.

A new study showed that patients who had a heart attack developed additional symptoms at a much higher rate than people of the same age and gender who did not have a heart attack.

During the nine-year study period, up to a third of patients developed heart or kidney failure, 7% had an additional heart attack, and 38% died from any cause.

Heart failure, atrial fibrillation, stroke, peripheral artery disease, severe bleeding, kidney failure, type 2 diabetes, and depression all occurred more frequently in people who had a heart attack than in those who did not, but There was no overall difference in the risk of dementia.

The study also found that people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds were more likely to die or develop serious long-term health conditions after a heart attack. In particular, people from more advantaged backgrounds were more likely to develop heart failure and kidney failure than people of the same age from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Lead author Dr Marlouse Hall, Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology in Leeds Medical School and Associate Professor of Multimorbidity Research at Leeds Institute for Data Analysis (LIDA), said: ‘There are approximately 1.4 million high-risk heart attack survivors in the UK. ” he said. This can lead to further serious health conditions. ”

“Our study provides accessible online information about the risk of these health outcomes for specific age, gender, and socio-economic deprivation groups, ensuring that individuals who survive a heart attack are well-informed about their future risks. to help doctors make informed medical decisions.”

“Effective communication between patients and health care professionals about the expected course of the disease and the risk of long-term adverse outcomes promotes positive lifestyle changes and encourages patients to continue treatment.” , can improve patient understanding and quality of life.”

“Our study highlights the need to modify individual care plans to account for the increased demand for care by survivors.”

Researchers analyzed the records of all individuals aged 18 and over who were admitted to any of England’s 229 NHS trusts between January 1, 2008 and January 31, 2017. This equates to 145,912,852 hospitalizations out of 34,116,257 people. There were 433,361 reports of people having their first heart attack. The average age of heart attack patients was 67 years, and 66% of patients were male.

The study looked at 11 non-fatal health outcomes and deaths from any cause, detailed below, and compared the results to a control group of 2,001,310 people.

health outcomes

The study showed a significantly increased risk of developing any symptoms after a heart attack compared to patients in the control group.

The most likely condition was heart failure, with 29.6% of the study group developing heart failure within nine years of their heart attack, compared with 9.8% of the control group over the same period.

Kidney failure developed in 27.2% of patients in the study group compared with 19.8% in the control group.

Approximately 22.3% of the study group developed atrial fibrillation, compared to 16.8% of the control group.

New hospitalizations for diabetes were seen in 17% of the study group compared to 14.3% of the control group.

Other conditions are:

• Severe bleeding – study group: 19%; control group: 18.4%
• Cerebrovascular disease – study group: 12.5%; control group: 11.6%
• Peripheral artery disease – Study group: 6.5%; Control group: 4.06%
• Death from any cause – Study group: 37.8%. Control group: 35.3%

Overall, hospitalization records showed that 8.9% of people developed depression after a heart attack, and they were 6% more likely to develop it after a heart attack than the control group. Women were more likely than men to develop depression after a heart attack, especially those who had a heart attack at a younger age. Among women under 40 at the time of their heart attack, 21.5% had been hospitalized for depression, compared with 11.5% of men of the same age.

There was no overall difference in the risk of dementia after a heart attack compared with the control group. Although the risk of vascular dementia was higher in the study group, the observed difference was small (2.3% in the study group and 2.1% in the control group).

In contrast to other health outcomes, the study showed that the study group had fewer cancers than the control group. About 13.5% of the study group developed cancer after a heart attack, compared with 21.5% in the control group. Although researchers believe that many factors likely contribute to this finding, the specific reason for the reduction in cancer after a heart attack remains unclear and requires further investigation. be.

Morag Foreman, Head of Discovery Research at Wellcome, said: “This study provides valuable insight into the types of support and interventions that patients may need after a heart attack, and provides a valuable insight for both doctors and patients. “Both can help you make informed decisions during recovery and beyond.”

“This study shows how cohort studies and analysis of large datasets can advance our understanding of major health challenges, and demonstrates the value of supporting discovery research in the field of population and public health. As survival rates after a heart attack improve, we are becoming better understood over the long term.” – The long-term effects on physical and mental health are extremely important. ”

Professor Brian Williams, chief scientific and medical officer at the British Heart Foundation, said: “More people are surviving heart attacks than ever before, but there can be long-term effects, especially in severe heart attacks. “The aftermath could leave people with irreparable damage.” This puts strain on the heart and increases the risk of heart failure. ”

“This study further sheds light on how heart attacks are associated with an increased risk of developing other serious health conditions, such as heart failure and atrial fibrillation. It was also found that people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds were at higher risk of developing further health conditions after a heart attack.”The study found that to reduce the risk of these patients developing further health conditions, This suggests that they may benefit from additional support and monitoring.”

“It is vital that the NHS has the resources, including staff, infrastructure and equipment, to provide the care patients need to help them maintain the best possible health for the long term.”

The work will be published in a magazine PLOS medicine.