People who had heart attacks in the UK and Spain during the first lockdown of COVID-19 will likely live shorter lives. They could lose 1.5 to 2 years, compared to people who had heart attacks before the lockdown.
This comes from a study in a medical journal. The UK and Spain will also lose a lot of money. Most of it will be because people won’t be able to work.
The Big Picture
Professor William Wijns, a study author, warned about the problems when people can’t get help for serious conditions like heart attacks.
He urged for backup plans to ensure that emergency services are always ready, even in disasters.
A heart attack happens when a part of the heart doesn’t get enough blood. The usual treatment is to quickly place a device called a stent into the blocked artery to allow blood flow.
But, delays in treatment can cause serious damage to the heart. This can lead to heart failure, other complications, and even death.
Lockdown Effects
During the lockdown, fewer heart attack patients went to hospital. This was because governments told people to stay home to avoid getting the virus.
The study found that patients who didn’t go to the hospital quickly were more likely to die or have serious complications.
What the Study Did
The study looked at what could happen to heart attack patients in the long term in the UK and Spain.
It compared how long patients who had a heart attack during lockdown might live to those who had a heart attack a year before.
The researchers focused on a type of heart attack called STEMI, where a blood vessel to the heart gets completely blocked.
They also compared the costs of treating these patients during the lockdown to the same time a year ago.
How the Study Worked
The researchers made a model to predict how long STEMI patients would live, their quality of life, and the costs related to their treatment.
They considered factors like age, whether they were hospitalized, and how long it took to treat them.
The Results
In the UK, patients who had a STEMI during lockdown would lose about 1.5 years of life. In Spain, they would lose a bit over 2 years.
Besides that, these patients would also lose time living in perfect health: about a year and two months in the UK and about a year and seven months in Spain.
The cost of treating a STEMI patient also went up. In the UK, it went up by £8,897, which includes £214 for the National Health Service and £8,684 because patients couldn’t work.
The extra cost in Spain was about €20,069 per patient. Over the patients’ lifetimes, this could cost the UK £36.6 million (€41.3 million) and Spain €88.6 million.
What’s the Lesson?
Professor Wijns emphasized that delayed or missed care can have serious consequences. The effects of just one month of lockdown will be felt for years. It’s important to always provide lifesaving treatments.
Health systems need to be ready to act quickly, even during a crisis. People should know how important it is to get care right away, no matter what else is happening.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about an important cause of heart disease, and many common meds could harm your heart rhythm.
If you care about heart health, please read studies about how eating eggs can help reduce heart disease risk, and Vitamin K2 could help reduce heart disease risk.
The study was published in the European Heart Journal—Quality of Care and Clinical Outcomes.
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