Over 60% of mortality in Bulgaria due to cardiovascular diseases

published on 10/29/13 10:55 AM

Photo: ВТА

Bulgaria was a host of the Seventh International Congress on Cardiovascular Diseases. An event of such high rank was held for the first time in this country. Nearly 70 foreign lecturers from Europe, Canada, Israel, India and Japan took part at the event. Together with their Bulgarian colleagues, they discussed the link between atherosclerosis, hypertension and coronary artery disease and the possibilities for early non-invasive diagnostics, treatment and prevention. Each year cardiovascular diseases cause 1/3 of all deaths worldwide (over 17 million deaths per year caused by this type of disease). If the increase continues, in 2030 over 23 million people will die from heart diseases on an annual basis. In Europe the cardiovascular illnesses cause 47% of all deaths (52% of all female mortalities and 42% of the male ones) Stroke and coronary artery disease are the main reason for these mortalities. In Bulgaria this percentage is even higher-over 60% of all deaths are due to the cardiovascular diseases. The National Heart Hospital alarms that heart attack affects more and more young people in Bulgaria. Many people aged between 30 and 40 suffer from this disease.

“The Bulgarian Society of Cardiology pays special attention over the recent years to the prevention of the cardiovascular diseases. This is why the last World Heart Day went under the motto of prevention and reduction of all risky factors, says the Chairman of the Bulgarian Society of Cardiology Associate Professor Ivo Petrov. “Some of the main risky factors for development of cardiovascular diseases are linked with diabetes and the irregular nutrition, so I would say that this problem is extremely topical. These are two of the major factors which cause the development of atherosclerosis which is widely spread in Bulgaria. Prevention of atherosclerosis is very important, because it causes myocardial infarction and brain stroke which are in fact the main reasons for the mortalities in Bulgaria. This is why the problem is so topical here. We have several big examples which show that prevention is extremely reasonable from a social and medical point of view. When it becomes an object of national policy, the mortality drops down by 20% which is of great importance to us. No other therapy, apart from prevention, can cause such a massive reduction of the cardiovascular diseases and the mortality. Unfortunately, Bulgaria is among the EU countries with highest number of these diseases and we are facing the challenge to cut this bad trend. I hope that the positive changes marked over the recent years will continue.”

In 2008 Bulgaria officially signed the European Heart Health Charter. Thus, this country joined the campaign aimed at reducing the cardiovascular illnesses in the modern European society. Representatives of the European Health Ministries, national heart societies and foundations are engaged in the implementation of all measures linked with prevention and treatment of the diseases mentioned in the charter. In Bulgaria representatives of state and non-governmental organizations are working to implement these measures. All who signed the European Heart Health Charter are obliged to encourage and support all measures aimed at changing the lifestyle of the citizens and at reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Many of the heart attacks could be prevented, which means that they are due to the unhealthy lifestyle: smoking, bad diet rich in fats and salt and sedentary life. According to data of the Bulgarian Hypertension League, there are some 2 million people in this country suffering from high blood pressure. Only half of these people though tend to treat this illness and control the levels of their cholesterol. We need to constantly remind people to control their body weight and blood pressure and to promote the healthy lifestyle, because the whole Bulgarian society pays for the negligence towards these socially-important diseases”, concludes Associate Professor Ivo Petrov.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov

По публикацията работи: Diana Hristakieva