Northern Ireland's heart health is at a "tipping point"

Northern Ireland has seen record numbers of those suffering from a range of heart diseases since the beginning of the decade, a charity warned today (Monday).

And the worrying levels of prevalence are creating a "tipping point" for heart health, according to the British Heart Foundation.

The charity said there had been a 12% rise in those diagnosed with heart failure, up to a record high of 21,701.

In addition, there has been a 14% rise in the number of people diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, up to a record high of 47,101 and a 10% rise in the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes - a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease - up to a record high of 114,673.

Launching a new strategy, the Foundation said a bold new approach to tackling cardiovascular disease is needed.

Latest statistics also revealed that Northern Ireland has stubbornly high rates of obesity, with an estimated 28% of the adult population (around 410,000 adults) having a body mass index (BMI) defined as obese.

Meanwhile, cardiac waiting lists have grown, and at the end of December 2024, 3,002 people were on the waiting list for cardiac surgery or treatment, up nearly 30% on the same period in 2019.

In Northern Ireland, the number of deaths from heart and circulatory diseases in 2023 (4,227) was the highest since 2012. Some 1,133 of these deaths were before the age of 75, with 500 in working age adults - an average of 10 each week.

The Foundation said these worrying trends follow decades of progress, which saw annual deaths from conditions like heart attack and stroke fall by half in Northern Ireland since the 1960s.

Now the charity has called for a focus on investing in cutting-edge research in areas such as artificial intelligence, data science and genomics to revolutionise how we prevent and treat cardiovascular disease.

It is urging the Northern Ireland Executive, as well as its funders and supporters, to work together to do so and save countless lives as well as reducing significant pressure on the health service.

Fearghal McKinney, head of BHF Northern Ireland, described a "tipping point in Northern Ireland's cardiovascular health", with the prevalence of many heart diseases and risk factors at a record high.

"But we're entering an era of immense scientific opportunity that can turn this tide," he said.

"By driving a research revolution, we can reverse this worrying trend and save and improve more lives than ever before.

"The BHF's new strategy will be key to this, as we aim to save many more families the heartbreak of losing loved ones far too soon."

Professor Bryan Williams, chief scientific and medical officer at the BHF, said cardiovascular disease remains one of the biggest yet most preventable killers.

"Research-driven innovation in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease has been one of the great success stories of modern medicine," he said.

"However, it remains one of the biggest yet most preventable causes of premature death and ill health.

"We need to act now to prevent the hard-won progress of recent decades from being lost for future generations.

"Reimagining how we prevent and treat heart disease and stroke is key to transforming the nation's health. Research and innovation are how we'll achieve this, and the rapid advances in AI, data science, technology and advanced therapies offer us a glimpse into what's possible if we capitalise on this era of scientific opportunity.

"We can't do this alone, so working with all four UK governments and partners will be critical to unleash the potential of the UK's life sciences sector to help unlock the lifesaving treatments and cures millions are still waiting for."

Meanwhile, a woman from Antrim is urging the public to be aware of their cardiovascular health after she said her heart attack was dismissed as a panic attack.

Mary McFarland, 44, lives with her husband and three boys, aged 6, 10 and 12. Mary, a medicinal chemist working in drug discovery, was fit and healthy when she had a heart attack at work in October 2024.

Mary’s heart attack had followed from a SCAD (spontaneous coronary artery dissection), a serious condition where a tear appears in the wall of a coronary artery, which supplies blood to your heart.

Mary said: “Before my heart attack I was working full time and was fairly active with three young boys and I’d also recently taken up rowing with my local club.

“It was a Friday morning and I was in work as part of an interview panel. I had walked up and down the stairs a few times and said to a colleague I felt so out of breath.

“I put it down to not having quite recovered from a vomiting bug I’d had the previous Sunday.

“I did the first interview and was feeling good, then the second interviewee came in. Ten minutes in, I felt a crushing pain in my chest and it spread down my arm.

“I thought it will go in a minute or two. When I was interviewing I was trying to take notes and I couldn’t even hold the pen, my arms were so weak.

“Then the sweating started, I had to get up, so I got up and left the room and I collapsed just outside the door.

“Thankfully a colleague had followed me out and saw me collapse and came to my aid. I felt like I was struggling to breathe.

“I had been a first aider in work for 15 years and my immediate thought was, I’m having a heart attack. My colleague phoned the emergency services and got the defib ready.

“The pain in my chest started to settle a bit and I was able to start talking but my arms and legs were still full of pins and needles and I was short of breath.”

The ambulance arrived and did an ECG on Mary. Mary was shocked to be told by the paramedics that she was ok and that she was having a panic attack. They said for her own piece of mind she could go and get a blood test.

Mary said: “I knew it wasn’t a panic attack so I repeated I was the one interviewing, I wasn’t being interviewed, however it didn’t make a difference.

A colleague of Mary’s then took her to the hospital where an ECG was performed. Once the Dr saw Mary’s troponin levels were elevated, he admitted her.

Mary said: “With my age and no medical history of heart issues, the Dr was very surprised with the high troponin levels in my body which suggested a heart attack.”

In hindsight, Mary says there were some indicators during the few days running up to her heart attack that she was unwell.

Mary said: “I had felt exhausted and unwell on the Monday of that week but put it down to the after effects of my stomach bug and took a day off work to recover.

“Then on the Wednesday night I took a bad pain in my chest when I was running around putting the kids to bed. Again I thought my earlier stomach bug had given me indigestion and I took tablets for it. However it just wouldn’t settle and took me a while to get to sleep.

“On the Thursday I actually joked to my colleague about the pain from the night before that I thought I was having a heart attack, the pain was so bad.

“I am very aware of the symptoms of a heart attack but I never thought in my early 40s and having a healthy diet, that it could happen to me.”

Mary’s chest pains continued when she was at The Mater Hospital from the Friday night through the weekend and on Sunday, she was transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast.

Mary said: “The cardiologist came to see me and she was going to arrange an angiogram so would need to call the team in. However she said as I looked well and didn’t look like her typical heart patient she would ask the senior consultant if it was really necessary to bring the team in. Thankfully the consultant agreed it needed to be done that day.

“Until this point I wasn’t convinced I’d had a heart attack. On the Friday the cardiologist had told me the heart can sometimes have episodes and that my troponin levels had indicated that my heart was under stress.

“I thought maybe I’m doing too much – I have three kids, a full-time job, and the kids go to football and rugby. I leave the house early for work in Belfast to beat the traffic so my days are long.

“Dr Murphy in the Royal was amazing and very clear. He told me that there was too much evidence to suggest anything other than a heart attack.”

The angiogram confirmed Mary had a tear in her left anterior descending (LAD) artery.

Mary said: “They started me on different medications and I was due to be discharged on Tuesday as they said a SCAD should heal on its own.”

However on the Monday night, Mary woke up with “the same horrible pain in my chest” and the cardiology team took her for another angiogram.

The cardiology team led by Dr Murphy discovered a blood clot on her heart which had blocked the artery and Mary had to have a balloon angioplasty procedure to widen the artery and save her life.

Mary said: “I was in hospital for another week, the first few days on complete bedrest as they said I was a special case. They weren’t sure what was going to happen.”

Mary was discharged last October and has been slowly recovering but it hasn’t been straightforward. She has since had chest pain and another two stays in hospital.

However since starting cardiac rehabilitation in January of this year, Mary has begun to slowly build up strength and fitness again.

She says: “When I was first discharged from hospital I was quite afraid to do anything. The cardiac rehab has helped so much and the team in Antrim have been amazing in helping me exercise safely and gain confidence in my body again. I started with gentle walks and have now built up to gym-based work.”