2023-08-29 18:03:42
From research, a new ‘aid’ to anticipate heart attacks and avoid underestimating warning signs. An American study has certified that 50% of people suffering from a cardiac arrest manifested an alarm signal 24 hours before the event. Not only that: researchers at the Smidt Heart Institute in Cedars-Sinai, California, found that in women the warning symptom was shortness of breath, while in men it was chest pain. The study, published in ‘Lancet Digital Health’, also identified smaller subgroups of patients, of both sexes, who experienced palpitations, seizure-like activity and flu-like symptoms.
Sudden cardiac arrest, when it occurs away from a hospital, puts the lives of 90% of those affected at risk, highlighting the urgent need to better predict – and prevent – the event. “Using warning symptoms to effectively triage those who call an ambulance or 911 could lead to early intervention and prevention of imminent death,” says Harpriya Chugh, director of the Center for Arrest Prevention cardiac at the Smidt Heart Institute and senior author of the study. “Our findings could lead to a new paradigm for the prevention of sudden cardiac death.”
The research analyzed a huge amount of data from two large studies: ‘Suds’ (Sudden unexpected death study) started 22 years ago and ‘Presto’ (Prediction of sudden death in multi-ethnic communities) started 8 years ago. The study compared individual symptoms and symptom clusters before sudden cardiac arrest to control patients who also sought emergency medical care. The results provided insights. of invaluable importance”, which “pave the way for further prospective studies in which all symptoms will be combined with other characteristics. We will subsequently supplement these main sex-specific alarm symptoms with additional features – such as clinical profiles and biometric measures – to further improve the prediction of an imminent heart attack,” they conclude.
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