A lack of knowledge about diabetes and the early signs of a heart attack, like chest pain, are major factors in the high number of unnecessary deaths among Thais with heart disease, new studies have found.

One study indicated the death rate of Thai patients with a severe form of heart disease was close to three times that of patients with the same disease in the United States, Europe and Australia, according to Dr Chadsri Prachuabmoh, of the Heart Association of Thailand.

One Thai died of heart disease every six minutes, according to the study, based on data from 1985 to 2002 on patients at 17 hospitals nationwide.

Another study on why heart disease was deadlier in Thailand than elsewhere attributed the higher mortality rate to delayed treatment.

The major reason patients were slow to seek treatment was that they ignored early symptoms of heart attack, including prolonged chest pain, fainting, and difficulty breathing, said Dr Suphot Srimahachote, a researcher at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital's Cardiology Division.

A third study found adult diabetes was largely to blame for the high rate of death among those with heart disease.

Four in 10 Thais with heart disease also have diabetes, compared to a rate of two in 10 in the United States, said researcher Dr Watana Boonsom of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Medical College and Vajira Hospital.

Those suffering from heart disease who also have diabetes are twice as likely to die from heart disease that heart patients who do not have diabetes, Watana said.

He warned that some heart-disease patients with diabetes were unaware that they suffered from the latter disease.

The studies were the first

jointly conducted by medical

colleges, hospitals and medical associations, the director of the Clinical Research Collaboration Network, Professor Pyatat Tatsanavivat said.

Professor Pyatat hailed the studies and noted: "We always relied on foreign clinical data, which is only partly applicable to our country's medicine."

"The data obtained through this set of studies ... will have far better benefits on treatment and prevention of diseases in Thailand than abroad," he said.

Arthit Khwankhom

The Nation