Lifestyles could cause heart disease epidemic
Friday April 20 2007
Known as the "silent killer" as it is symptomless but deadly, high blood pressure can severely damage major organs and lead to heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and dementia.
It already affects one in four adults globally - about one billion people - and causes an estimated seven million deaths from cardiovascular disease a year.
But this figure is set to dramatically increase by 60pc over the next two decades if nothing is done, the report by three international health experts says.
Launched at the European Parliament in Brussels, the report 'High blood pressure and health policy' calls for better education, improved healthcare and greater efforts to persuade people to change.
The report's authors hope the statistics will prompt a new campaign to tackle hypertension. Previous studies have shown that people who suffer from chronic stress at work are more likely to develop high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
Studies which followed 10,000 British civil servants beginning in the 1980s found those who most often reported "job strain" had a higher incidence of the conditions.
Researchers at University College, London, reported in the 'British Medical Journal' last year that their findings provided evidence for the "biological plausibility of the link" with stress.
Earlier results from the Whitehall studies suggested the best way of combating stress was to climb the ranks, as the lower a man's status the more likely he was to die young.
Panos Kanavos, a health economist at the London School of Economics and one of the authors of the new report, sponsored by the drug company Novartis, said: "Changing your lifestyle is key. Obesity, high salt intake and lack of exercise are all contributory factors, made worse by stress. This problem starts in the 20s and 30s." The report warns that any gains made in the treatment of heart disease could "stagnate or reverse" without increased efforts to change lifestyle and improve treatment.
The biggest problem, says the report, is the failure of those diagnosed with high blood pressure to stick to their treatment.
(© Independent News Service)
- Jeremy Laurance
