Eight out of 10 People Diagnosed With Heart Disease Consider Their Diagnosis a 'Wake-Up Call'

Barcelona, Spain (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Your Heart: New Start initiative launched to provide heart
patients and their carers with information about nutrition, fitness
and medication adherence

Eight out of 10 heart patients in an international survey of more
than 3,000 patients felt their heart disease diagnosis was a wake-up
call to live a healthier lifestyle. In addition, more than 90 percent
of surveyed heart patients who believe they were given a second
chance in life said it was an opportunity to treat their body with
more respect. Yet, nearly half of patients surveyed reported feeling
there was little they could do to reduce their risk of heart attacks,
and many did not adopt a heart healthy lifestyle to prevent further
complications.(1) This survey was conducted among heart-event
survivors in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico and the United
Kingdom.(1)

"It is worrying that even after suffering a heart attack or other
cardiac event patients to not feel motivated to make simple
modifications to ensure they are living a heart healthy lifestyle,"
says Helen Alderson, Chief Executive Officer of the World Heart
Federation. "Through the Your Heart: New Start public education
initiative, launched today at the European Society of Cardiology in
Barcelona, we hope to help heart patients, their families and their
healthcare professionals better understand how to improve their
outcomes through education and better treatment adherence."

An estimated 17.2 million people worldwide died from
cardiovascular disease in 2004, representing 29 percent of all global
deaths, making it a significant public health concern.(2) Annually,
7.2 million people worldwide die from coronary heart disease.(3)

Despite the seriousness of suffering a heart attack or other
cardiac event, many patients across the world do not follow their
doctor's recommendations to adopt a heart healthy lifestyle and take
medications as prescribed to reduce the chance of a second heart
attack. Comprehensive, integrated information around managing heart
health may play a critical role in helping patients make the most of
their second chance and make life after a heart event easier and
perhaps more fulfilling.

YOUR HEART: NEW START

Your Heart: New Start is aimed at helping healthcare providers
and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients undergoing percutaneous
coronary intervention (PCI), work together to better manage heart
health.

The initiative is based upon the international survey results in
heart patients, as well as separate global patient research conducted
by Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. and Eli Lilly and Company, among ACS
patients undergoing PCI.

Unique to Your Heart: New Start is the integration of the ACS
patient insights gained from the separate research and the healthcare
providers that support them.

This set of research findings highlight several areas critical to
the recovery of patients who have experienced a heart event. These
insights are the foundational pillars of the Your Heart: New Start
initiative. Whilst the international survey was broad and interviews
many types of heart patients, additional research into one of the
largest categories of heart patients - those who had received a
coronary stent - was conducted to more deeply explore what could be
done to help patients.

The insights highlighted that in ACS patients undergoing PCI:
-- Patients report they do not get sufficient information about their
treatment that answers the many questions they have. This lack of
knowledge may undermine their recovery.
-- Having a heart event is a very emotional experience and those
emotions change along the patient journey from the event throughout
recovery. The Daiichi Sankyo and Lilly research discovered two
distinct time periods after their event during which patients are more
receptive to different types of heart healthy information.
-- These two time periods are:
-- just before patients leave the hospital, and
-- at their first follow-up visit with their doctor after leaving the
hospital
-- Information needs to be repeated and reinforced if patients are to
change engrained behaviour.
-- The support of family and friends is a positive influence on patients,
but many supporters do not know how they can help.
-- It is important for the healthcare provider to endorse the information
given to patients.

Your Heart: New Start components provide patients and their
carers with practical information about improving nutrition, fitness,
stress, and medication adherence. These resources have been designed
to be given to heart patients after a major cardiac event at the
times that they report being most open to specific educational
messages.

Given the trauma associated with a heart event, ACS patients are
often initially overwhelmed and find it difficult to absorb the
information given to them whilst at the hospital. To maximise
success, information can be staged to better match the emotional
process many patients experience. Two distinct time periods were
identified where ACS patients appear to be most receptive to specific
types of information they need to improve their cardiac health after
a heart event.

Patients are receptive to information about the importance of
adhering to their medication during the first time period. During the
second time period, patients are more receptive to absorbing
information about lifestyle changes and disease management along with
their medication information.

Given that repetition is key to effectively changing habits, (4)
each subsequent step of Your Heart: New Start introduces new
information in addition to reinforcing previously discussed
information. Programme content was well received when tested with
coronary stent patients and their healthcare providers around the
world.

ADDITIONAL SURVEY FACTS

The survey of adults aged 40 and older who suffered from heart
attack or other serious heart conditions, such as chronic chest pain
related to a heart condition, revealed the emotional toll that a
heart event can have, including feeling helpless and worried, with 48
percent worried about suffering from a heart attack in the future.(1)

Typically, heart patients understood that their second chance, in
part, depended on following doctors' orders. The survey showed that
those who were more faithful to their treatment regimens, including
lifestyle changes and medication, were happier, healthier and more
optimistic than those who faltered and failed to follow through. In
the survey, more than eight out of 10 patients agreed that if they
took their medication, their heart health would improve.(1) However,
the survey showed that for many heart patients, knowing what to do is
one thing and actually doing it is another.(1)

References

1. Your Heart: New Start. International Survey of Heart Patients,
GfK Roper. August 2009.

2. World Health Organization. The Global Burden of Disease: 2004
Update. URL: http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/GB
D_report_2004update_full.pdf. Accessed August 2009.

3. World Health Organization. The Atlas of Heart Disease and
Stroke - Deaths from Coronary Heart Disease. URL: http://www.who.int
/cardiovascular_diseases/en/cvd_atlas_14_deathHD.pdf. Accessed March
2009.

4) Klesges LM, Estabrooks PA, Dzewaltowski DA, Bull SS, Glasgow
RE. Beginning with the application in mind: Designing and planning
health behavior change interventions to enhance dissemination. Ann
Behav Med. 2005;29 (2):66-75.

Notes to the Editor

About the Survey

Daiichi Sankyo and Lilly, in partnership with the World Heart
Federation, developed this international survey. The survey was
conducted by GfK Roper in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico and
the UK among nationally representative samples of adults aged 40 and
older who suffered from heart attack or other serious heart
conditions, such as angina. A total of 3,011 patients were sampled
[All Country Summary p29]. The survey was completed in December 2008.
The sampling error, at the 95 percent confidence level, for results
based on the total is +/- 3.4 percentage points. The sampling error
is higher for analysis on subgroups.

About the World Heart Federation

The World Heart Federation, a non-governmental organization based
in Geneva, Switzerland, is committed to helping the global population
achieve a longer and better life through prevention and control of
heart disease and stroke, with a particular focus on low and
middle-income countries. It is comprised of 198 member societies of
cardiology and heart foundations from 100 countries covering the
regions of Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas and Africa. For further
information visit: www.worldheart.org

About Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited

A global pharmaceutical innovator, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., was
established in 2005 through the merger of two leading Japanese
pharmaceutical companies. This integration created a more robust
organization that allows for continuous development of novel drugs
that enrich the quality of life for patients around the world. Areas
of primary focus for Daiichi Sankyo research and development are
thrombotic disorders, malignant neoplasm, diabetes mellitus, and
autoimmune disorders. Equally important to the company are
hypertension, hyperlipidemia or atherosclerosis and bacterial
infections. For more information, visit www.daiichisankyo.com.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a
growing portfolio of pharmaceutical products by applying the latest
research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations
with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis,
Indiana, USA, Lilly provides answers - through medicines and
information - for some of the world's most urgent medical needs.

O-LLY

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ots Originaltext: Eli Lilly and Company
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Contact:
Charanjit Jagait of the World Heart Federation, +41-22-807-0334
(office); or Derin Denham of Eli Lilly and Company, +1-317-277-6749
(office), +1-317-370-1435 (mobile); or Kimberly Wix of Daiichi Sankyo
(US), +1-973-695-8338 (office), +1-908-656-5447 (mobile); or Michaela
Paudler-Debus of Daiichi Sankyo Europe, +49-(0)-89-7808-685 (office),
+49-(0)-172-845-8974 (mobile). Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061120/DSLLOGO,
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090331/CL90914LOGO,
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090831/DE67926LOGO