Dramatic rise in heart attack survival rate

The number of people who survive heart attacks has dramatically increased in the past four decades.

The British Heart Foundation said there has been a "remarkable" turnaround after data showed that 70 per cent of women and 68 per cent of men in England who have heart attacks survive.

While figures from before 2002 are not directly comparable, a 1970s study from Oxfordshire showed that two-thirds of men and women aged 65 to 69 died from their heart attacks, the charity said.

But it warned that fewer heart attack deaths should not mask the "devastating burden" that heart failure is placing on the UK.