Heart Attack Victim Every 15 Minutes In Scotland, New Figures Show

Someone has a heart attack in Scotland every 15 minutes according to new figures. The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said around one in 10 Scots also live with heart and circulatory disease.

The shock statistics have been released by the charity to help launch a new chest pain awareness campaign. BHF wants people to seek help at the first sign of trouble, instead of risking a potentially fatal seizure.

Scotland remains the heart attack capital of the UK, the charity said, with a death rate 70% higher than the south east of England for men and almost double for women. There were 10,331 deaths from coronary heart disease across the country in 2005, almost all of which will have been heart attacks. And although this number has been falling consistently, it is still the UK’s single biggest killer.

Kenneth Morrison, from Glasgow, suffered chest pain while in the car on the way to work – but was saved after going to hospital. The 48-year-old civil servant said: “I was a healthy person, I didn’t smoke, I wasn’t overweight and I exercised.

 
“I was shocked to experience chest pain and I knew something wasn’t right but I carried on to work. Within a short space of time a colleague agreed with me to call 999. I knew there was something wrong and I didn’t want to take a chance.”