MedWire News: Anaemia is a common and growing problem among patients with heart failure and is associated with reduced life expectancy, study results show.

People with anaemia have low levels of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. The condition can cause breathlessness, weakness, poor concentration, pallor and other symptoms.

"Anaemia is an important comorbidity [co-occurring condition] in heart failure and has been associated with increased mortality," explain Véronique Roger and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic and Foundation in Rochester, Minnesota, USA.

To investigate the prevalence and effects of anaemia among community-based heart failure patients, the researchers studied data on two groups of patients who were diagnosed with the condition.

The first group included 1063 patients who were monitored between 1979 and 2002 and the second group comprised 677 patients who were monitored between 2003 and 2006.

The researchers found that 40% of patients in the first group had anaemia compared with 53% of those in the second group, and anaemia rates increased between the two study periods.

Analysis also revealed that heart failure patients with anaemia were nearly twice as likely to die as those without the condition.

Furthermore, patients with a form of heart failure called preserved ejection fraction heart failure were more likely to have anaemia than those with reduced ejection fraction heart failure. The ejection fraction refers to the amount of blood pumped out of the heart during a heart beat.

Writing in the American Journal of Medicine, Dr Roger and team conclude: "In the community, half of patients with heart failure are anaemic, and the prevalence of anaemia has increased over time.

"Anaemia is more prevalent in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and is associated with a large increase in mortality."

They add: ""Given the high burden of anaemia in heart failure, if treatment improves outcomes, the impact could be great."