SCOTLAND – A massive cut in deaths from coronary heart disease of 8.1%, and in stroke deaths of 5.7% has been reported in Scotland between 2010 and 2011 in the latest figures. The proportion of people dying from CHD dropped 43% since 2002, with strokes down 41% in the same period. The rate of the occurance of (not necessarily death from) these conditions has dropped by a whopping 28.9% and 21.7% over a decade.

Alex Neil, Scottish Health Secretary, welcomed the findings saying “It is fantastic that NHS Scotland is continuing to make significant reductions in the number of deaths from heart disease and stroke. We’ve also managed to narrow the gap between the richest and the poorest areas in Scotland, showing that our strategy for tackling heart disease and stroke is delivering real results for the people of Scotland. There is, however, more to do. For example, more people are surviving heart attacks and living with heart disease – they need high access to high-quality rehabilitation and support. NHS Scotland has substantially increased access to cardiac rehabilitation in recent years and we recognise the need to continue to improve services available for people with all heart conditions”

The implication of this is that more people are now able to live with heart disease in the long term, as they are able to survive longer. There are also more people are discharged following heart problems. There is some sugggestion that some changes to the definition of acute mycoardial infarction have resulted in a change in categorisation.

Today’s figures also show that the cost of treatment for these conditions has dropped, although the number of prescriptions has increased.