A CASUAL observer could see the BHF’s latest heart disease statistics launched earlier this month as evidence of unprecedented progress in the fight to eradicate premature heart disease in the UK.
After all, our statistics show that death rates from heart disease are falling – down from nearly 121,000 in 2001 to nearly 117,500 in 2002. This evidence of a sustained decline in mortality rates from heart disease is indeed excellent news.
But these figures have a nasty sting in the tail. They belie the fact that the numbers of people living with debilitating heart disease – a staggering 27 million people – is increasing year on year. Almost one in eight people – or 12 per cent – have been diagnosed with a disease of the heart or circulatory system. In 1989 this was just seven per cent. Even more worryingly, this figure does not include the millions who live with blocked arteries without even knowing it.
Moreover, we must not forget that although strong progress is being made in reducing mortality rates from coronary heart disease (CHD), the UK death rate is still one of the highest in western Europe. This means that a man of working age is more than twice as likely to die from CHD in the UK than in Italy. The UK death rate is also higher than most other developed countries, including the USA, Australia and Japan.
These figures demonstrate that policymakers cannot become complacent about progress in tackling heart disease.
The BHF was concerned that many media reports on the government’s National Service Framework for Heart Disease Update published in March claimed that, because of falling heart rates in the under-65s, premature deaths from heart disease could be abolished by 2013.
But as blanket media coverage of the subject tells us, Britain now has the developed world’s fastest growing rate of obesity. If these trends are sustained, they could easily halt the progress that has been made in tackling heart disease. Indeed, the BHF agrees with the House of Commons health select committee’s recent prediction that the UK’s growing obesity epidemic could reverse the falling CHD mortality rate.
Our recent statistics show that physical inactivity and unhealthy diets are a major problem:
• only 37 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women take the recommended 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five times a week.
• a worrying 88 per cent of men and 83 per cent of women consume too much saturated fat; and
• salt intake, a contributory factor of high cholesterol that leads to heart disease, is excessive in 85 per cent of men and 69 per cent of women.
All of these statistics add up to in-creasing levels of overweight and obesity – in ten years, the percentage of obese adults has increased by more than 50 per cent – from 14 per cent of the population to 22 per cent. This will have real implications for the freedom of future generations to live long and healthy lives.
Choosing health Given our concern over the growing levels of obesity in the UK, the BHF was pleased at the Department of Health’s promise of a white paper on public health later this year, following comprehensive consultation.
Informing much of our response to the consultation is a recent BHF study in India, which discovered that children who are born thin but rapidly gain weight in childhood are more likely to develop diabetes, a major risk factor for heart disease, rather than those who are born heavier. These findings are supported by a 2003 BHF study of children in Finland, which found that children who developed diabetes as adults had low birth weights and were still thin a year on.
From the findings of our research, we believe that regular monitoring of children’s body mass after the age of two and subsequent intervention measures to prevent excessive weight gain will help halt the rise of heart disease caused by Type 2 diabetes.
Interventions like these must, however, be complemented by public education campaigns that ensure people are aware of the key determinants of heart disease. For this reason, the BHF recently published a series of posters on buses, London tubes and advertising hoardings to launch Heart Week (June 5-13). They feature messages such as “Fear the pie” and “Stairs – they are your friends” to encourage people to cut down on fatty foods and build exercise into their daily routine. Small but consistent lifestyle changes can have a massive impact on a person’s risk of heart disease and can ultimately save lives.
Additionally, given the strong correlation between heart disease and smoking, the BHF recently conducted a very successful hard-hitting, anti-smoking media campaign in England. The “Smoking Clogs Arteries” campaign’s strong visual image reinforced the link between smoking and heart disease. The success of the campaign was demonstrated when we found that 83 per cent of smokers who saw the advertisements thought about stopping smoking; and of the 12,500 people who called the BHF helpline, 46 per cent had given up smoking four weeks later.
Still Britain’s biggest single killer Government action to provide a frame-work for people to make healthy choices in their lives, allied to successful education campaigns like the BHF’s, can help lead to further reductions in the rates of people living with heart disease in the UK.
Ultimately, however, the BHF believes that if we are to achieve sustained and long-term further reductions in heart disease, greater investment in research, public education and care is required. As such, organisations such as the BHF, the UK’s biggest funder of heart research, will continue to rely on public support to fight heart disease. Support from politicians and policymakers will be crucial in continuing to prioritise the push onwards tackling heart disease, which remains Britain’s biggest single killer.
