Heart failure occurs when the heart muscle stops pumping the amount of blood it should.
The study says around 50% of the people suffering from myocardial infarction or heart attacks develop chronic heart failure. These people, who have survived the heart attack after reperfusion or reopening of arteries, succumb to chronic heart failure within a 5 year period.
It highlights that the incidence of heart failure following a heart attack has increased in recent decades with more than 300,000 deaths every year in the US.
“While advances across populations have made survival after a heart attack possible for most, too many survivors suffer long-term complications like heart failure,” said Subha Raman, MD, who is physician director of the Cardiovascular Institute. “Dr. Dharmakumar’s breakthrough science illuminates who is at risk and why and points to an effective way to prevent these complications.”