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Heart attack rates decline, according to a new study

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Many individuals across the country are showing improvements in their cholesterol tests, and this is leading to a decrease in the number of heart attacks, according to a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr Robert Yeh and his colleagues looked at the medical records of 45,000 patients going back to 1999. The team found a 24 percent decline in the number of heart attacks and a 62 percent drop in heart attacks that do serious damage.

Dr Jon LaPook, a medical correspondent for CBS News, said the decrease is largely due to improvements in preventative treatments and advancements in surgical procedures.

"High cholesterol can be lowered using a statin," he told the news source. "And if you're having a heart attack, you can open up the clogged artery using a procedure and decrease the odds that a person will actually die from a heart attack."

Additionally, the report cited a 24 percent decrease in the number of deaths that occurred within the first 30 days following a heart attack.