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More Britons than ever living with heart disease

2004-06-04 9:28:39

 

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LONDON (Reuters) - Fewer people are dying from it but more Britons

than ever before are living with coronary heart disease, the British

Heart Foundation said in a report published on Friday.

 

Nearly three million people are living with the disease, an increase

of five percent from 1989. A million others have blocked arteries

and do not know it.

 

" These statistics contain good and bad news, " Professor Jeremy

Pearson, assistant medical director of the foundation, said in an

interview.

 

" The good news is that fewer people are dying prematurely of

cardiovascular disease. Many more who have a heart attack are being

treated promptly with drugs or by surgery, " he added.

 

But one person every two minutes in Britain suffers a heart attack,

which amounts to 270,000 every year.

 

" If you treat a heart attack, it is a bit like closing the stable

door after the horse has bolted because a heart attack is what you

physically notice of a disease process that started early in life, "

Pearson added.

 

Deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) have fallen in the past

decade but Britain still has one of the highest rates in Europe,

according to the report.

 

Nearly 117,500 people died of the illness in 2002, compared to

121,000 the previous year, according to the report. Only Finland and

Ireland have higher death rates. A working-age man in Britain is

more than twice as likely to die from heart disease than a man in

Italy.

 

Deaths from CHD between 1991 and 2001 fell 40 percent in men aged 35-

44 and by 47 percent in men aged 55-64. In women aged 55-64 the

decrease was 53 percent and 33 percent in younger females.

 

But the number of people living with CHD is about 30,000 higher than

last year's estimates because any improvements are being undermined

by a lack of exercise and a poor diet, which has fueled an obesity

epidemic. Obesity is a risk fact for CHD.

 

In a decade, the number of obese adults has risen from 14 to 22

percent of the population, giving Britain one of the fastest growing

rate of obesity apart from Kuwait and Samoa.

 

" Most heart disease is avoidable if we take simple measures to

improve our lifestyle. Too many people in the UK are exercising too

little, eating diets too high in fat, salt and sugar, and

consequently becoming overweight or obese, " said Professor Charles

George, the foundation's medical director.

 

" This trend has real and worrying implications for the future rates

of CHD in the UK and for the freedom of future generations to live

long and health lives, " he added in a statement.

 

 

 

 

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Copyright 2003 Reuters.

All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,

rewritten, or redistributed.

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