The British Heart Foundation has launched its latest fundraising campaign
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) Scotland has launched a new fundraising campaign highlighting that 21 Scots under the age of 65 suffer a fatal heart attack every week.
The stat blasts away the myth that heart attacks only effect those who are older and the BHF says more research is needed to target their causes.
The charity, which has funded previous medical research, says research has helped to significantly improve heart attack survival rates but further studies are “urgently needed” in to the main cause of heart attack - coronary heart disease.
“Every year thousands of people are still dying from heart attacks and coronary heart disease remains Scotland’s single biggest killer,” Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said.
“We urgently need to fund more research to find new ways to prevent and treat heart attacks, and ultimately, save more lives.
We now need the continued backing of our supporters if we’re to make the advances that could save even more lives from heart disease
“Despite knowing there are genetic and lifestyle factors which increase the risk of heart attacks, we still have no way to stop the furring of the arteries in coronary heart disease that is responsible for causing so many heart attacks.
“This is a challenge that only research can provide the answer to.”
The BHF’s figures show that a heart attack strikes someone every 20 minutes in Scotland – with almost 26,000 heart attacks treated in Scottish hospitals in 2013/2014.
This figure is up from 22,000 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 and last year, 1,110 people across Scotland, under the age of 65, suffered a fatal heart attack.
James Cant, director of BHF Scotland, said remarkably little is known about coronary heart disease and what leads to atherosclerosis – the process that causes narrowing of the coronary arteries and potentially fatal heart attacks.
“Every week heart attacks devastate hundreds of families across the country, by killing loved ones and leaving many others with debilitating heart conditions that make the rest of their life a daily struggle,” he said.
“The only way we can find new ways to prevent and treat heart attacks is by funding more research.
“Every penny that the BHF has spent on research, that is today saving lives, has been donated by our generous supporters.
“We now need the continued backing of our supporters if we’re to make the advances that could save even more lives from heart disease.”
To help the British Heart Foundation fight back against heart disease, visit bhf.org.uk/fightback.
