Heart attack plan to be introduced

United Kingdom, October 19: A “gold standard” treatment for heart attacks is being introduced by the UK government. This will help save many lives across the country.

The procedure will make use of a balloon and a tube which will help in unblocking the arteries and allow normal blood flow.

It is being estimated that this treatment will help to bring down the death rate from 7 percent to 5 percent. This means that about 240 lives will be saved every year.

The government is making full efforts so that 97 percent of eligible heart attack patients undergo the procedure within the next three years. At present, only 25 percent are given the surgical treatment, while the rest are administered clot-busting drugs.

Primary angioplasty will be performed on 25,000 eligible people every year. For a three-year target, this cost works out to be 12 million pounds.

The new treatment is around 800 pounds more expensive per patient as compared to the clot-busting drugs. Nonetheless, it is cost-effective because it significantly reduces the risk of a future heart attack or stroke.

Primary angioplasty is easily available in most parts of the country, including 10 pilot hospitals.

As per records, only six patients were treated with traditional thrombolysisdefine in London last year. This treatment was given for thinning the blood.

But a much better handling of available medical services will be required to carry out primary angioplasty in places such as Cumbria and East Anglia.

The government is planning to have round-the-clock cardiologists who will be working in specialist centres. Ambulance services will also be made more alert so that they rush people to the specialist centre.

Professor Roger Boyle, government heart tsar, said that a proper reorganisation of services is the need of the hour. This will help speed up the whole process.

He added, “The paramedic makes the diagnosis and decides where to deliver the patient. They might have to pass a couple of hospitals they would normally go to but it's worth travelling a bit further to get the right treatment.”

Scotland and Wales are also planning to come up with similar schemes that will help save precious human lives.