The Live Wire



Press Release

Oxygen should not be routinely given to heart attack patients, says charity

16 June 2010

The British Heart Foundation supports current recommendations that oxygen should not be routinely given to heart attack patients, because there may be no real benefit to the treatment.

Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said:

“Current UK guidelines recommend oxygen is not given to everyone who has a heart attack, only those people whose oxygen levels fall below a certain point.

“This review of three small studies does not show that oxygen causes either harm or benefit to heart attack patients, but highlights the need for more research into the effects of oxygen when it is given during a heart attack.

“Until recently, heart attack patients were routinely treated with oxygen but we simply don’t have enough evidence to know if that treatment is beneficial or harmful.”

Notes:

Statement issued in response to ‘Oxygen therapy for acute myocardial infarction (Review)’ published in The Cochrane Library, JB Cabello, et al, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 6. Art. No.: CD007160. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007160.pub2.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is the nation’s heart charity, dedicated to saving lives through pioneering research, patient care, campaigning for change and by providing vital information. But we urgently need help. We rely on donations of time and money to continue our life-saving work. Because together we can beat heart disease.



Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.

As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.

More from Dods

© Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd


Press releases, papers and documents published on this page are the intellectual property of an organisation unrelated to Central Lobby. We promote their parliamentary and political campaigning activities as they are subscribers to the Central Lobby service.

As such, Central Lobby does not edit, endorse, or attempt to balance the opinions expressed on this page. The content of press releases and other such types of content are the responsibility of the originating organisation.

British Heart Foundation

More from Dods

© Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd