25/08/2015

10,000 People Under 65 Suffered Fatal Heart Attacks In 2014

New figures have shown nearly 10,000 people aged under 65 suffered a fatal heart attack last year, according to the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The data equates to 200 deaths every week.

The findings have sparked a new campaign to highlight how heart conditions, including heart attack, can affect families across the country every day.

Coronary heart disease, the leading cause of heart attacks, claims approximately 70,000 lives each year.

BHF Medical Director, Professor Peter Weissberg, said: "Through medical research, we've made great progress in saving the lives of people suffering from heart attacks. But we mustn't be lulled into thinking we've solved the problem.

"Despite knowing about important risk factors, such as smoking, we still have no way to stop the furring of the arteries in coronary heart disease that is responsible for causing so many heart attacks, and this is a challenge that only research can provide the answer to."

Simon Gillespie, BHF Chief Executive, added the only way to find new ways of preventing and treating heart attacks is by funding more research.

(LM)

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