United States: The number of Americans who fall victim to the most severe form of heart attack is decreasing lately, as a new study asserts.
More about the study
STEMI is an acronym invented by researchers, which stands for ST‐segment-elevation myocardial infarction. According to the study, STEMI heart attacks have decreased to half in the past 15 years in the US.
This blockage can result not only in severe muscle injury but also can have a substantial impact on the ventricles’ pumping function, which keeps the heart’s heartbeat. The balance of beating throughout all the time enough hearts can’t pump a proper amount of blood, which leads to death.
Dr. Fares Ghanem, a lead researcher and a cardiovascular disease physician at Southern Illinois University, said, “Seeing a decline in STEMI overall was surprising,” as the US News reported.
Why do STEMI heart attacks occur?
Such heart attacks are caused by near-total blockage of a coronary artery, as the researchers indicated.
The blockage can even severely damage the muscle of the heart’s lower pumping chambers, the ventricles. Therefore, a lot of damage, along with the loss of the heart’s ability to pump, makes a sufficient amount of blood flow, sometimes resulting in death.
How was the study conducted?
In this study, the team of researchers examined hospital data for the period 2004 to 2020 and involved 3.4 million patients with a heart attack.
The total percentage of STEMI cases in the hospitals is down to 49 for a population of 100,000 (orig) from 99 cases per 100,000 in 2004; this is based on analysis of data.
Mortality in individuals over 85 had dropped from 25 percent to 22 percent, with no difference for people between the ages 65 and 84, where mortality remained at 10.5 percent.
Deaths went up just for people aged between 45 and 65 years (they have increased slightly), from 4 percent to 5.5 percent.
On the other hand, even if everyone works the same amount of time, disagreement is clear in what people make.
Over a fifteen-year period from 2003 to 2017, the odds of having a higher-earner population suffering from ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) heart attack is about 20 percent less than that of the low-income category people.
A total of 42 per thousand low-income people occurred in 2020, while this figure was 54 for high-income.
Ghanem said, “The disparities uncovered by our study emphasize there is a gap in care,” as US News reported.
Experts comments
Dr. Mandvi Devendra Pandey, a lead researcher and a resident physician at Texas Health Resources, said, “As healthcare professionals, we are trained to care for all our patients equally regardless of race or gender.”
“It is crucial to address these disparities not only to enhance individual patient outcomes but also to advance health equity and social justice,” Pandey added.
Moreover, “Our study can serve as a positive catalyst by raising awareness, advocating for targeted quality improvements, and healthcare system reforms so everyone can have better cardiovascular care.”