A French study published in August 2017, in partnership with The European Heart Network, shows that simple preventative measures make it possible to ensure a longer life expectancy and a better cardiovascular prognosis. | Forest Medical Device Testing
The risk factors for myocardial infarction are fully identified. Some are related to behaviours such as smoking, nutrition, physical exercise, excessive drinking or obesity. Other risk factors have complex determinisms such as high blood pressure, bad LDL cholesterol, good HDL cholesterol and diabetes. Nutritional quality factors are also important in the fight against atherosclerosis. Including the consumption of saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated fats, consumption of sugar, salt, fibre, fruits, vegetables, and fish.
The latest European recommendations from 2016 have focused on preventative measures to avoid having myocardial infarction in the future. The set of behavioural, nutritional and drug approaches are described very precisely in these recommendations and should theoretically be shared by physicians and their potential patients.
To date, no work has been successful in demonstrating the joint effectiveness of controlling all risk factors on prognosis.
How Was The Study Done?
From a study of 3,402 subjects aged 35 to 64, Professor Jean Ferrières, President of the Midi-Pyrénées Cardiology Association and cardiologist at the University Hospital of Toulouse, and his team selected 1,046 subjects who had completed a quantitative and qualitative nutrition questionnaire. All these subjects were followed for an average of 18 years looking for complications. 186 deaths were recorded, including 93 deaths from cancer, 41 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 52 deaths from other causes.
The Results:
Several factors are associated with a greater total of cardiovascular mortality: age, being male, living in northern France, smoking, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low consumption of fatty acids polyunsaturated.
In a symmetrical way, a low level of education, an exaggerated consumption of alcohol, a sedentary lifestyle, a marked obesity and low levels of good HDL cholesterol are associated with an increase of the total mortality.
In a model that takes into account all the parameters recorded, the subjects who are the least adherent to the preventive measures are 3 times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease.
The team extrapolated the results to the French population: if subjects with inappropriate prevention behaviour were to change their lifestyle, we would avoid 90,702 cardiovascular deaths and 419,020 all-cause deaths. over a period of 18 years. Indeed, preventative cardiovascular measures can prevent a very large number of cancer deaths because of certain risk factors such as smoking, physical inactivity and obesity are common to both diseases.
For healthy subjects at the beginning of the study, simple preventative measures help to ensure a longer life expectancy and a better cardiovascular prognosis. This study shows that adherence to these measures helps to maintain good health.
The UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP): First call for proposals
The British Heart Foundation and an alliance of research funders have agreed to commit £50 million to support research into the primary prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). The vision is to generate new insights into actionable, sustainable and cost-effective ways of preventing these disease that will improve population health and reduce health inequalities in the UK.
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Sources:
- Emilie Bérard, Vanina Bongard, Bernadette Haas Jean Dallongeville, Marie Moitry, Dominique Cottel, Jean-Bernard Ruidavets, Jean Ferrieres.
- Score of adherence to 2016 European cardiovascular prevention guidelines predicted cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in the general population.
- Canadian Journal of Cardiology (2017) – DOI 10.1016 / j.cjca.2017.06.008