West Berkshire heart attack death stats released
More people die prematurely in district than anywhere else in Berkshire
MORE people die prematurely of a heart attack in West Berkshire than anywhere else in the county, it has been revealed.
New figures released by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) show an average of 51 people under the age of 75 die from a heart attack in the district every year.
An average of 47 people die prematurely in Reading, 34 in Wokingham, 29 in Bracknell Forest, 41 in Windsor and Maidenhead and 49 in Slough.
The BHF says that total population and the age profile of each area will heavily influence the number.
The highest average premature death rate in the south-east was in Southampton (76).
According to the statistics, heart attacks kill nearly 2,500 people prematurely each year in the south-east. The BHF also estimates that more than 22,000 people under the age of 75 across the UK suffered a fatal heart attack in 2014.
The figures have been released as the BHF launches a new campaign to highlight how heart conditions, including heart attack, devastate families across the country.
A heart attack strikes someone every three minutes in the UK - with almost 188,000 heart attacks treated in UK hospitals in 2013/2014.
This figure is up from 175,000 the year before, which the charity says could be due to better diagnosis and recording.
Despite improvements in treatment and diagnosis, around a third of heart attacks are fatal.
Although figures remain high, medical research, much of it funded by the BHF, has significantly improved heart attack survival rates through better diagnosis and treatments.
Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, 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 beaten the disease.
“Every year thousands of people are still dying from heart attacks, and coronary heart disease remains the UK’s single biggest killer.
“We urgently need to fund more research to find new ways to prevent and treat heart attacks, and ultimately, save more lives".
