You're nearly 50 per cent more likely to die of a heart attack in the winter

Heart attacks are more deadly during colder months, according to research.

If you have a heart attack between November and April you may be nearly 50 per cent more likely to die than someone who has one in the summer.

Cardiologists at a hospital in Leeds looked at the records of more than 4,000 heart attack patients over four years to find the concerning statistic.

They found the number of heart attacks remains steady year-round but the risk of dying within a month is around 50 per cent higher in winter.

There is no clear reason for the difference, they said, but hospital delays and an increased number of possibly fatal infections could be to blame.

In the UK someone is hospitalised by a heart attack every three minutes – the British Heart Foundation says there is an urgent need for research into reducing the number of heart attacks.

Research found the number of heart attacks is evenly spread across colder and warmer months, but that one in four winter heart attacks is fatal, compared with one in five in the summer

The research, done at Leeds General Infirmary in West Yorkshire, will be presented at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference in Manchester today.

The doctors found people who have a severe heart attack between May and October have a 20 per cent chance of dying within 30 days.

Those suffering a cardiac arrest between November and April, however, have a 28 per cent chance of death – meaning more than one in every four heart attacks in colder weather is fatal.

Numbers of heart attacks similar in warm and cold months

Only slightly more than half of heart attacks happened in colder months – 52 per cent – with the most serious cases leading to cardiac arrest and cardiogenic shock.

Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body, while cardiogenic shock is when the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs.

Both conditions are often caused by a severe heart attack, but not everyone who has a heart attack has a cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock.

HOW BAD WAS THE 2018 NHS WINTER CRISIS?

Waiting times at over-stretched A&E units were at their worst level since records began, official figures revealed in April this year.

Experts said the NHS was in the grip of an ‘eternal winter’ and many hospitals struggled to cope with the unprecedented pressure.

Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt was forced to admit it was the ‘worst winter ever’ amid a severe outbreak of flu and cold weather.

Chiefs cancelled thousands of operations in a controversial move to ease pressure. And experts have suggested this may be the only option to stop a crisis next year.

Data from NHS England also shows that waiting times for routine operations, such as knee and hip replacements, are at their highest since 2004.

And violent assaults on staff have risen by 10 per cent in a year – partly driven by frustration with waiting times.

Dr Arvin Krishnamurthy, who led the research at Leeds, said: ‘There is no physical reason why a heart attack, even the most severe, should be more deadly in winter.

‘We must do further research to find the cause of this difference and remedy it. The next step is to find out if this trend is seen nationwide.

Hospital delays could be to blame

‘Potential explanations could include longer time to treatment, prolonged hospitalisation and delays to discharge, and increased prevalence of winter-associated infections, which in the sickest patients, could be potentially lethal.

‘Further studies interrogating the association between time of admission and outcomes, especially in the sickest and most vulnerable patients, are certainly warranted.’

The cardiologists compared information from 4,056 people who received treatment for a heart attack in four separate years.

In the UK, someone goes to hospital with a heart attack every three minutes – 200,000 people per year – and only around seven out of 10 survive.

When you have a heart attack shouldn’t impact your chance of survival

Professor Metin Avkiran, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, added: ‘You obviously can’t choose when you have a major heart attack, but it shouldn’t have such an impact on your chances of surviving.

‘It’s vital we carry out more research to find out why there are these differences, as well as continuing to do all we can to stop people having heart attacks in the first place.

‘Although we’ve made huge strides in the last 50 years, we must urgently fund more research to continue to drive down the number of heart attacks and ensure more people can live full lives even after a heart attack.’

NHS winter crisis at record levels in February

The NHS comes under extraordinary strain in the winter and the ‘winter crisis’ regularly hits the headlines.

In February 2018 just 85 per cent of patients were admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival in casualty units across England.

The NHS target is to have at least 95 per cent of patients dealt with in this time.

February’s figure was worse than the 85.1 per cent recorded in December 2017 and January 2018, when the Red Cross was drafted in to help combat what it called a ‘humanitarian crisis’ in hospitals.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk

You’re nearly 50 per cent more likely to die of a heart attack in the winter

HOW BAD WAS THE 2018 NHS WINTER CRISIS?