Fewer People Dying In U.S. From First Heart Attacks

First-time heart attacks in the United States are becoming less severe, and fewer people are dying from them than did in past generations, according to a new study.

The study, published in Tuesday's Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, said that the trend is true across racial and gender lines.

The researchers from St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital of Columbia University in New York City, were not attributed to people getting to the hospital sooner because that rate remained the same since 1987.

Instead, the researchers say people are controlling their blood pressure and cholesterol more these days, which makes heart attacks less deadly.

Though the news is positive, the decreased mortality rate is only slightly statistically significant. The study looked at data from more than 10,000 first heart attacks that occurred in four separate parts of the country from 1987 to 2002. During that time, the amount of people dying from first-time heart attacks only went down a little more than 5 percent.

Heart Attack Rates Drop After City Bans Indoor Smoking

Hospital admissions for heart attacks in Pueblo, Colo. have reduced significantly three years after the city banned smoking in most indoor places, according to a study released this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study found there were 399 hospital admissions for heart attacks in Pueblo in the 18 months before the city's smoke-free ordinance took effect on July 1, 2003, compared to 237 heart attack hospitalizations in the similar period from 18 months to three years after this date, a CDC press release states.

The CDC said indoor smoking bans affect heart attack rates because they limit the amount of second-hand smoke non-smokers are exposed to and they reduce smoking altogether.

"This study adds to existing evidence that smoke-free policies can dramatically reduce illness and death from heart disease," Janet Collins, director of CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, said in a statement.

The CDC says long-term exposure to second-hand smoke is associated with a 25-percent to 30-percent increased risk of heart disease in adult non-smokers. The agency says it estimates second-hand smoke exposure causes an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths a year in non-smokers.

Worlds Youngest Man to Receive the Worlds Smallest Heart Pump

St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver had a medical milestone last weekend: 13-year-old Sikander Sakota surviving a potentially fatal heart disease, when he became the youngest patient in the world to receive the world's smallest heart pump.

Sahota started feeling ill last Saturday and was diagnosed with viral myocarditis, an infection that destroys heart muscle. A heart pump was inserted into his groin and threaded into his heart. From there, the pump began helping his heart push blood.

The pump stayed in the boy's heart and was removed after two days. Sahota described the procedure as "painful and strange."

Sahota's recovery is expected to take about two weeks, and was immediately advised that he is okay to play soccer again.