People 'ignoring' heart attack symptoms

Coronary heart disease kills 110,000 people each year

Many people are risking their lives because they are failing to identify heart attack symptoms.

Research carried out by doctors in Glasgow suggests heart attack victims are delaying vital treatment because they do not think their symptoms are serious enough.

Doctors at Glasgow Royal Infirmary examined the cases of 228 men and 85 women, between the ages of 25 and 65, who had suffered a heart attack.

Man patients slow in seeking help

Almost 60% of these had no previous history of heart problems.

The study found just one in four called for help within an hour of the start of symptoms.

Almost half waited more than four hours before seeking help and one in eight waited an entire day before treatment.

Doctors recommend prompt medical treatment for people who experience heart attacks to break down any blood clots. This can can cut the risk of death from a heart attack by 50%.

The Glasgow researchers suggest every 30 minute delay in seeking treatment can take a year off someone's life.

Two out of every three deaths from heart attacks in Glasgow occur outside hospital.

Early emergency treatment of a heart attack can dramatically reduce the risk of death or long-term complications

British Heart Foundation spokeswoman

Of those who had never experienced a heart attack before, only one in five recognised their symptoms.

Most had no idea that they were having a heart attack and put the pain down to indigestion.

Even those people who had had a heart attack before or who suffered from angina were found to wait before seeking advice.

Only one in five people called an ambulance first, while most opted to call their GP instead.

Many said they did not think the symptoms were "serious enough" and that they "would go away".

The doctors called for improved health education to encourage people to call an ambulance if they experience a heart attack.

"It is important that the serious nature of coronary symptoms is emphasised, along with the fact that they always warrant a call to the emergency ambulance service," they stated.

A spokeswoman for the British Heart Foundation said: "This new research highlights a well established, but very important problem that can only be tackled through greater public awareness of how to recognise a heart attack.

"Early emergency treatment of a heart attack can dramatically reduce the risk of death or long-term complications, but too many people still fail to recognise that they are having a heart attack and don't call an ambulance," she said.