LOS ANGELES, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Heart attacks have become less fatal in the United States due to improved health care, a new study shows.

    After reviewing more than 10,000 first heart attacks in four widely separated areas of the United States, researchers found only a marginal decrease in the heart attack death rate, from 5.3 percent in 1987 down to 3.8 percent in 2002.

    But when researchers looked at 20 indicators of severity, they found that heart attacks today are not as damaging and deadly as in years past, according to the study published by Health Day News on Sunday.

    "There are several possible reasons why heart attacks are not killing as many people," said lead researcher Dr. Merle Myerson, director of the cardiovascular disease prevention program at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.

    "We need to look at those and determine how we should train the next generation of health-care providers to continue this progress," said Myerson.

    Part of the reason for that, Myerson said, lies in the quality of care people are receiving at the hospital. There are better medications available, including anti-platelet and anti-coagulant drugs to help clear blockages.

    There also are better medical procedures available, with more doctors becoming skilled at performing angioplasty and bypass surgeries and implanting stents to open blocked arteries, she added.

    People also might be having less-severe heart attacks because of the treatment they've been getting, said Myerson.

    "People are getting better preventive care before they have a heart attack" as doctors are doing a better job diagnosing and treating high blood pressure or high cholesterol, she said.

    She also attributed the more survivable rate of heart attacks to the fact that people are getting better at improving their diet, taking aspirin and exercising.

    Yet despite the improvements, there are still ways to make heart attacks even less deadly, Myerson said.

    For example, people were taking as long as or longer to get to the hospital during a heart attack than they did 15 years ago, and the researchers ruled that out as something that might be contributing to the increased survivability, according to Myerson.

    Myerson said public education is the best way to reduce that delay. "When someone has chest pain or chest discomfort, they need to activate the emergency response system as quickly as possible," Myerson said. "We need to educate people on the impending signs of heart attack."