Learn this fact now: ‘heart failure’ is a killer

TWO-THIRDS of patients with heart failure go undiagnosed by GPs, resulting in a ‘medical emergency’ at some point and the admission to hospital of tens of thousands of people, according to a report this week.

The ‘target culture’ that now prevails in general practice is being blamed, because GPs are not paid for performing the key tests that would flag up the diagnosis and they miss many of the subtler symptoms.

I think another factor is at work here, too. ‘Heart failure’ is a vague-sounding term, benign even, and uninteresting. Cancer, on the other hand, is a strongly emotive word that resonates profoundly with us.

There’d be a public outcry if it were revealed that the majority of cases of cancer were being missed by GPs, yet heart failure — a heart that is too weak or too stiff to pump blood around the body — has a worse prognosis at the point of diagnosis than many aggressive cancers.

Fifty per cent of older people admitted to hospital with heart failure die from it within a year.

It’s time for the NHS to educate the public — and doctors — about just how serious this condition can be, and the symptoms to look out for.