Heart attack fatalities have been reduced by half over the last decade, according to research from the University of Oxford.

The study took into account national hospital and mortality data from over 840,000 people in England who had heart attacks between 2002 and 2010.

Results showed that the number of heart attacks had been reduced in the country, and the number of people who died from heart attacks was reduced further.

Kate Smolina, first author of the study published in the British Medical Journal, said: “These are big success stories for public health and for the NHS.”

Dr Mike Rayner added: “Over half of the decline in deaths from heart attacks can be attributed to a decline in the actual occurrence of the attacks, and just under half to improvements in survival after attacks.”

The researchers pointed to prevention works as being primarily responsible for the decline. Additionally, a reduction in smokers and improvements in diet and nutrition, particularly in the type of fat people consume, are leading to less fatalities.