Heart failures cause more fatalities than most common cancers, new study suggests
Heart failures are just as life threatening as most common types of cancer, a new study led by Keele University, in collaboration with the Universities of Aberdeen and Manchester, suggests.
Doctors used data pertaining to half million patients from Scotland and wanted to know if survival rates are better for those with heart failures than for those that were diagnosed with some of the most common types of cancer.
Researchers looked at the four most common cancers for men, which are prostate, lung, colorectal, and bladder cancer; while for women, they looked at breast, colorectal, lung, and ovarian cancer. Diagnoses of cancer and heart failure were at similar ages in men, but women typically experienced heart failure later in life.
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While 20% to 38% of cancer patients did not have any other type of illness, for patients with heart failure the percentage was of only 5.5%.
“The findings of this study are important, our study shows that despite advances in the treatment of heart failure with newer drugs and devices, mortality rates remain significant and heart failure remains as malignant as many of the common cancers,” said professor Mamas Mamas, leader of the study.
The Keele University study was the first to compare survival rates in a primary care setting in patients with diagnoses of heart failure or any of the four most common cancers in men and women. The results, published in the Heart Failure Journal, are important, doctors say, as it can help them improve medical care.
“This study highlights how anonymised data from general practices can be used to uncover evidence that helps us understand how patients can be best managed. The comparison will hopefully highlight the potential impact of heart failure to the public, who can take proactive steps to prevent it,” said doctor Matt Sperrin, Health eResearch Centre at The University of Manchester.
Scientists concluded that despite advances in management, heart failures remain as ‘malignant’ as some common cancers, and also, given the co-morbidity of heart failure, doctors should be looking at targeted care for the other health conditions that patients were diagnosed with.
Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death globally with the World Health Organization estimating that over 17.5 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2012.
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