Few European heart attack patients get aspirin
(7)
Updated: 2003-02-20 10:51

Most heart attack victims in Europe are still not given aspirin as potentially life-saving first aid, cardiologists said on Wednesday.

The European Society of Cardiology also said the chances of surviving heart disease varied widely across the continent.

It said a significant proportion of doctors rarely stuck to guidelines for the disease.

A survey of 39,000 patients in 34 countries shows that only about 40 percent of heart attack patients got aspirin before reaching hospital even though this cheap drug has been shown in large trials to be a highly effective clot-buster.

Heart disease kills more than four million Europeans a year and accounts for two in five deaths in people under 74.

The chances of dying from it vary significantly between countries because of different diets, rates of smoking and obesity, as well as standards of medical care.

Prevention and treatment guidelines exist to help doctors combat heart disease but are widely ignored in some places.

Only a fifth of doctors in France and Poland adhered to the guidelines, compared to one third in Germany and Italy, and three-quarters in Spain and Britain.

"Research has shown this is due to a variety of factors, most significantly a lack of support at government level, no financial incentive and budget constraints," the society said.

Professor David Wood, from London's Charing Cross Hospital and chairman of the Euro Heart Survey committee, told reporters that cardiovascular drugs were still often prescribed at lower doses than those shown to be effective in clinical trials.

More than half of patients had poorly controlled blood pressure, the society's latest survey showed.

Heart disease death rates are highest in eastern and central Europe. In the west, Britain, Ireland and Finland fare worst.

Differences are striking.

In Russia, the death rate for men and women aged 35 to 74 is eight times France's while the rate in Ireland is twice Italy's.

Mortality rates are lowest in Mediterranean countries such as France and Spain.

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