STARTLING new research has revealed that heart attacks are more likely to strike down householders without gardens.

Medical experts in Blackburn believe there is a strong link between the climate and people's susceptibility to coronary heart disease. The medics' investigations have revealed that the lack of sunshine in East Lancashire and the rest of the North West is causing high blood cholesterol levels - leading to soaring heart attack rates.

The research was spearheaded by consultant physician and gastroenterologist Dr David Grimes, who was helped by Dr Eric Hindle and Terry Dyer, from the biochemistry department at the Blackburn and district NHS Trust.

Dr Grimes and his research team believe it is the lack of sunlight which is causing high cholesterol levels and not poor diet. He said poor people were at particular risk of an attack because they had houses without gardens, did little outdoor exercise and could not afford holidays in the sun.

The research showed that people without gardens had less vitamin D and more cholesterol in the blood than people with gardens.

It also revealed that Asian people living in England had particularly high heart attack levels, as they were culturally adapted to avoiding sun exposure.

The medics also gathered a large amount of evidence which suggested that heart attacks were directly due to a chronic infection with a bacteria which is probably chlamydia pneumoniae, although its identification is not yet certain. They suggest that sunshine exposure and high vitamin D levels offered protection against this and other infections.

Dr Grimes said chlamydia pneumoniae was a common cause of respiratory infections, which fitted in with evidence theory that heart disease was more common in people who had recurrent bronchitis.

He added that cigarette smoking indirectly caused heart attacks, as it encouraged respiratory infections.

Dr Grimes said: "To avoid respiratory infections and heart attacks, do not smoke and take plenty of outdoor exercise. Dietary change has been over emphasised and the important protective aspects of diet are plenty of fruit and vegetables to provide vitamin C and oily fish to provide vitamin D and other essential oils."

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