Heart attacks killed more than 150 people in Kirklees “prematurely”, figures reveal.
And it is still regarded as the biggest killer in the country.
Now the British Heart Foundation (BHF), says urgent research is needed to target causes of heart attack amid news that thousands of people under the age of 75 suffered fatal heart attacks in 2014.
Its survey has found 152 deaths due to heart attacks occurred to people aged under 75 in Kirklees last year.
The number of heart attacks treated in UK hospitals rose by 13,000 last year, and the charity says that could be due to better diagnosis and recording.
But despite improvements in treatment and diagnosis, around a third of heart attacks are fatal.
The BHF - which funds more than £27m of research in Yorkshire - says more must be done to tackle the main cause of heart attack - coronary heart disease (CHD).
Around 216,000 people in Yorkshire are living with CHD and it remains the UK’s single biggest killer but little is understood about atherosclerosis, the process that causes narrowing of the coronary arteries and potentially fatal heart attacks.
Professor Peter Weissberg, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Through medical research, we’ve made great progress in saving the lives of people suffering from heart attacks. But we mustn’t be lulled into thinking we’ve beaten the disease.
“Every year thousands of people are still dying from heart attacks, and coronary heart disease remains the UK’s single biggest killer.
“We urgently need to fund more research to find new ways to prevent and treat heart attacks, and ultimately, save more lives.
“Despite knowing some of the lifestyle and genetic factors that increase the risk of heart attack, we still have no way to stop the furring of the arteries in coronary heart disease that is responsible for causing so many heart attacks.
“This is a challenge that only research can provide the answer to.”
