Good Heart Attack Care Could Lengthen Your Life, Study Shows

A new study has recently revealed that older heart attack victims who receive prompt care from their hospital end up extending their life to another year.

According to NBC News, using Medicare records, researchers discovered that about 17 years after a heart attack, average life expectancy was 9 to 14 months longer for heart attack patients who had been cared for at hospitals that do best on widely used quality measures than for those treated at low-rated ones.

"Where you go really does matter," not just for surviving the heart attack but also long-term, said Dr. Emily Bucholz, a study leader and researcher at Boston Children's Hospital.

Another study leader, Yale cardiologist Dr. Harlan Krumholz also said that a year of life from optimal care can be considered a big deal. Just think about some cancer drugs who have won approval for adding a few months or weeks in someone's life. Dr. Krumholz also said that if you're having possible heart attack symptoms, it is important to seek medical help. Don't delay it just because you're not sure which hospital to go to. "Just call 911. Too many people wait at home too long," and any delay means more risk of permanent heart damage, he said.

UPI reported that for this study, researchers went through about 120,000 Medicare-covered heart attack patients admitted at 1,824 hospitals across the US between 1994 and 1996. The review included an average of 17-year follow-up to check how long the patients lived. Then the hospitals were ranked as "high-performing" or "low-performing" basing on the 30-day survival rates of the heart attack patients, who were an average of 76 years old.

"This is really an important study," said an independent expert, Dr. Ralph Brindis, a University of California at San Francisco cardiologist and former president of the American College of Cardiology. "Delivering better care not only saves lives but that the gain persists over 17 years, independent of how sick the patients were initially," reported The New York Times.

Meanwhile, experts have noticed that heart attach care has improved a lot since the 1990s, but more importantly, recent comparisons of short-term hospital mortality rates show that big differences still exist. "Where the good hospitals in your community are is worth knowing," Bucholz said. These hospitals are not usually the ones advertised on TV. To know more about these hospitals, Medicare has a website that provides information about hospitals in your area so you can be prepared, especially if you or someone in your family is at high risk for a heart attack.

Also, according to the American Heart Association, heart attack symptoms can be sudden, but many start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort. Signs can include pressure, squeezing or pain in the chest, one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach; shortness of breath; breaking out in a cold sweat; nausea, or lightheadedness.