Medical experts have warned that the health service faces a “time bomb” for heart failure, with prevalence predicted to almost double by 2040.
The British Heart Failure Society (BSH) has warned that there are around 400,000 undiagnosed heart failure patients in the UK and that a national effort to detect these cases is urgently needed or NHS services will be overwhelmed in the future.
Heart failure occurs when the heart can’t properly pump blood around the body. It’s a long-term condition that can’t be cured, but early diagnosis and treatment can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. Treatments include medications or surgery to improve heart function, implanting a pacemaker to control heart rate, and heart surgery to improve blood flow.
About 80 percent of heart failure patients are diagnosed after an emergency admission. About one in 10 die during their stay, and about a third of those who are discharged die within a year. Doctors say patients are not being effectively diagnosed in the community.
BSH chief executive Lynne MacKay Thomas said: “Without systematic early identification of patients with heart failure and those at highest risk of developing heart failure, we will see a surge in hospital admissions.”
“This is a ticking time bomb. A national, sustainable, centrally commissioned programme to find people before they get seriously ill can help change this trajectory. We have the knowledge and the treatments to change people’s lives and prevent many avoidable deaths.”
According to a report on projected patterns of disease in England published by the Health Foundation in July 2023, the number of heart failure cases in England is predicted to increase by 92% between 2019 and 2040. In comparison, cancer is predicted to increase by 31% and dementia by 45%.
Data from GP practices is being analysed in a pilot project supported by clinicians and BSH to identify people who are at risk of heart failure but have not yet been diagnosed. British Journal of Cardiology He said that currently there is a missed opportunity for early diagnosis.
Abdullah Arshad, 28, a civil engineer from Chigwell, London, was diagnosed with heart failure in June 2018 after experiencing severe palpitations. “With any amount of exercise my heart would beat so fast I could feel it through my shirt,” he said.
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Arshad said he made multiple visits to walk-in medical centres and hospital emergency departments before finally receiving a diagnosis at another hospital.
He said: “Immediately after I was diagnosed I was bedridden and they told me if I did anything I could go into cardiac arrest and die.”
“I was shocked by what had happened. How could I have gone to hospital with heart failure only to be misdiagnosed? I could have died at any moment. I was a danger not only to myself but to everyone around me. And so many times it went unnoticed.”
Arshad is now taking medication to improve his heart function. He married his wife Shazleen in December 2020 and the couple have a 16-month-old son, Zahian.
“We have big national campaigns to raise awareness for heart attack patients, big national campaigns for stroke patients, but we don’t have a national campaign for heart failure,” said Dr Henry Oluwasefanmi Savage, a cardiologist specialising in the management of heart failure and chairman of BSH’s policy and media committee.
“This is a tragedy because there are treatments that can make people better. Politicians and policymakers need to recognise that there is a problem and that it is an exploding problem. This is not a death sentence.”
“If you diagnose it early and treat it early, you can see a lot of benefit, people can feel better and live longer,” he added.
BSH’s 25in25 initiative aims to reduce deaths from heart failure by 25% over the next 25 years, and says patients who may be suffering from the disease should be aware of its main symptoms – difficulty breathing, fatigue and fluid buildup in the body.
An NHS spokesman said: “The NHS remains committed to saving thousands more lives from cardiovascular disease, as set out in our long term plan, and has rolled out a range of preventative measures to help people take control of their health, including weight management programmes, smoking cessation services, street blood pressure testing and additional tests by GPs to detect heart disease earlier.”
“Improved detection and management of high-risk conditions such as atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are among the interventions being deployed to reduce cardiovascular disease risk, with thousands of people now receiving support to manage their disease more effectively than before the pandemic, reducing their chances of having a heart attack or heart failure.”