Feeling pain after a heart attack is not uncommon, but depending on the type of pain, you have to pay attention to it, as shown by a new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
There pain increases the risk of cardiovascular disease including myocardial infarction (MI). However, the impact of pain on mortality after heart attack has not been studied in large studies with long follow-up periods. Researchers decided to look into the subject and published their findings on August 16, 2023 in the Journal of the American Heart Association. They collected data from 18,376 Swedish patientsaged under 75, who have had a heart attack between 2004 and 2013. They analyzed the levels of pain or discomfort (not only thoracic) felt one year after leaving hospital based on self-reports and collected data on all-cause mortalityup to 8.5 years after the one-year medical visit. Of the moderate pain and extreme pain were reported respectively by 38.2% and 4.5% of patients. There have been 1067 deaths.
Pain had more impact than smoking
“Pain one year after MI is very common and its effect on mortality has been found to be more pronounced than smoking” informed the scientists. What’s more “L’effect of pain on mortality is highest in those with extreme pain“ compared to people without pain. On the 1067 deaths recorded within 8.5 yearsTHE patients with extreme pain were overrepresented.
Compared to participants without pain, those who reported a moderate pain were 35% more likely to die (all causes) during the follow-up period. “Pain and cardiovascular disease share many risk factors related to lifestyle (sedentary lifestyle, overweight, for example, editor’s note) which could be an explanation. commonly used pharmaceuticals in the treatment of pain (both opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are associated with a increased cardiovascular riskwhich could also be part of the explanation” commented the researchers. For them, clinicians caring for patients after a heart attack must recognize the need for consider the pain felt like a prognostic factor, comparable to smoking, and take this into account when setting up individualized treatments.