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Posted on Dec 29, 2008, 7 a.m.
By Rich Hurd
As many as one in five heart attack patients are still suffering from chest pain 1-year later, new research suggests.
As many as one in five heart attack patients are still suffering from chest pain 1-year later, new research suggests.
Chest pain, or angina, is a common symptom of heart disease, and some heart attack patients are expected to keep suffering from chest pain even after undergoing treatment, however until now the true extent of this problem was unknown.
Researchers at the Denver's Colorado University, and the city's Veteran's Affairs Medical Center, studied 1,957 patients who filled in a questionnaire a year after their heart attack. Results showed that 19.9% of participants were still suffering from chest pain one year after their attack. The majority of those still suffering experience pain once weekly on average, however roughly 1% were having chest pains on a daily basis. The results also showed that those most likely to continue to experience chest pain were younger men who had undergone a heart bypass operation, or men who smoked or suffered from depression.
Maddox TM, Reid KJ, Spertus JA, et al. Angina at 1 Year After Myocardial Infarction: Prevalence and Associated Findings. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168:1310-1316.
