Startling reduction in Heart Attack Deaths in Wartime Norway
This is a fascinating case study that brings relevant evidence pertinent to heart disease directly to the forefront. It should serve as a convincing argument about why people suffer from heart attacks, and also act as a guide on how to avoid them, which is the primary reason that the ‘Lower Blood Pressure’ website exists.
The unlikely connection with the quiet, peaceful and prosperous country of Norway is probably an unlikely place to look for heart disease statistics. Nevertheless some valuable data was obtained as a side effect of the occupation of this small nation by the invading army from Nazi Germany in the 1940′s.
Prior to the outbreak of World War 2 the Norwegian population enjoyed a high standard of living, including good nutrition – a relatively rich diet of food and drink compared with many other European countries. Unfortunately, the prosperous citizens of this tiny Scandinavian country also suffered from a high mortality rate from heart attacks and heart disease related illness.
During the occupation years, however, there was a sharp fall in the number of recorded deaths from heart attacks and other diseases of the cardiovascular system. Even more surprising was the observed reduction in the number of instances of blood clotting (thrombosis) in hospital patients recovering from surgery, due to the lack of physical activity during the post-operative sedentary period.
What could be the reason for this reduction in heart disease ?
The simple answer is that during the Nazi occupation of their country, the Norwegian people faced hardships that were previously unknown to them. This consisted of a cumulative series of denials of many of the unhealthy practices that we currently indulge in our daily lives in 2012.
This included the following :-
- Drastic reduction in smoking due to shortage of supply of cigarettes and tobacco
- Forced labor by the occupying army resulting in increased daily physical activity
- Reduced intake of Meat and Dairy Produce – much of this was exported back to Germany
- Massive increase in fish consumption – reliance on locally caught fish due to the shortage of beef, cheese and milk
The result of this forced change of lifestyle was that the majority of the population lost some weight, lowered their blood cholesterol level, became more physically fit, stopped smoking and lowered their blood pressure. Consequently, despite increasing stress levels due to the pressures on daily life imposed by the occupying forces of the invading army, the overall heart health of the people increased !!
As if this wasn’t proof enough, we need to now look at what happened during the years following the end of the War. This is quite shocking. Within two short years, with the abundance of rich foods and tobacco, and despite a reduction in stress levels associated with daily living, the heart attack and stroke death rates were once again back at the pre-war levels.
Despite the glaring and uncontrovertible evidence that was available to the medical authorities from this wartime data, it would not be for another three decades until the world finally woke up to the inescapable correlation between diet, smoking exercise and heart disease.
It should serve as a valuable lesson to us all that we CAN make a difference to our own heart health, once we accept the undeniable facts, and it only takes a relatively short time (within a year or two) to begin to lower our risk of suffering from a heart attack.
50% Reduction in Heart Attack Instances in the United Kingdom
Here’s some great news about heart attacks and strokes for a change.
The British Heart Foundation has released new statistics in January 2012 that show a 50% reduction in the number of heart attacks suffered by people in the United Kingdom over the period from 2002 to 2012.
Furthermore, of those who do suffer a heart attack, or a stroke (which is effectively the same as a heart attack on the brain), there has been a corresponding fall of 50% in the number of deaths in these people as a result of the attack.
Professor Peter Weissberg (Medical Director at the BHF, and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine) was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Today Program, and questioned by the presenter as to the reason for the fall. He revealed that research over the years has increased our understanding of the causes, and prevention of the cardiovascular disease, and also lead to improved treatments for heart attack and stroke.
There has been much more publicity in recent years about how to look after your heart health, that has led to a greater understanding by the average person and encouraged them to eat healthier diets, take more exercise, quit smoking, and lose weight.
Another important factor that has recently started to impact positively on the statistics, is the introduction of the smoking ban in public areas that was introduced in the United Kingdom in 2007. Smoking causes the furring up of the arteries that increases the risk of a heart attack. Smoking also has some detrimental impact on the already furred up arteries.
The British Heart Foundation also funded some research in Scotland that examined the impact of the smoking ban, and this has shown that the beneficial results of the new policy started to become apparent there within just three weeks of the start of the ban. This is very encouraging news for anyone who is considering considering giving up smoking, as it demonstrates the tangible and rapid benefit from giving up.
There is still much work to do however, as Cardiovascular Disease remains the largest single cause of death in the UK in 2012. Also a quarter of all people who suffer from a heart attack die before they are able to receive treatment. This is one area that Professor Weissberg indicated could be improved by more public awareness of how the average person could help to treat a heart attack victim at the scene of the incident using Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
A new type of CPR has recently been publicised in a national TV advertising campaign. Known as ‘hard and fast’ it shows the Hollywood ‘hard man’ Vinnie Jones performing a new type of hands only CPR on a heart attack victim. You can see the movie below :-
Royal Berkshire Hospital achieves record low waiting times for heart attack surgery
If you’re unfortunate enough to suffer from a heart attack, and you live in Berkshire, you’re in the best place you can possibly be.
The Royal Bershire Hospital, renowned for it’s pioneering work in the field of cardiac medicine, and recent innovations such as the new high definition CT Scanner, has now been commended for having the lowest wait time of any hospital in the United Kingdom for the treatment of heart attacks.
The critical one hour period between having a heart attack and getting professional medical treatment is sometimes known as the ‘golden hour’, because treatment administered during this time has a much greater influence on the patient’s outcome, and chances of a return to full health.
The Royal Berkshire has achieved an amazing average of only 19 minutes response time between admission time and potentially life saving Angioplasty treatment (which is surgery that is used to widen a blocked or clogged artery that may have caused or contributed to the heart attack) – the lowest wait time for any hospital in the United Kingdom.
We’d just like to offer our congratulations to all the staff who have made this possible through their hard work and dedication, especially at this difficult time of spending cutbacks.
Heart Attack link to Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
A research project based in Sweden has indicated that the stress of being diagnosed with prostate cancer may significantly increase your risk of suffering an imminent and fatal heart attack.
Furthermore, the cause of the heart attack appears to be linked to the actual shock of receiving the bad news about the diagnosis of the prostate cancer, rather than an underlying or pre-existing heart disease condition. This is according to the findings of the study published in the medical journal PLoS Medicine Reports.
Prostate cancer is a serious and potentially fatal cancer of the prostate gland, and is a medical condition that is responsible for nearly one eighth of all male deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom. The highest actual number of diagnosed prostate gland cases occur in the United States, although the US lies in eighth place in terms of mortality from the disease.
In 2007 there were more than ten thousand deaths in the UK from prostate cancer, and each year more than thirty five thousand new cases are diagnosed. The only type of cancer that kills more people after prostate cancer is lung cancer.
The majority of prostate cancer deaths occur in men aged 65 and over, After the age of 85 it overtakes lung cancer to become the most common cause of cancer deaths.
The heart attack research was based on a study of the medical records of more than four million men, and spanned over forty years. From the study group approximately four percent, or 170,000 men went on to develop prostate cancer.
It has revealed that in the crucial short term period following the diagnosis of prostate cancer, the patients were found to be over ten times more likely to die from heart related problems and heart attacks during the first week after the initial diagnosis.
Another shocking statistic that emerged is that young people as well as those with no history of cardiovascular disease were found to be particularly at risk.
But the problem remained active for far longer than one would imagine, with an elevated risk still present in patients up to a year after the initial diagnosis of the prostate cancer.
However, the British Prostate Cancer Charity has reacted cautiously to the study findings. A statement by the charity’s Head of Policy and Campaigns, Sarah Cant, has highlighted that the Swedish study failed to take into account certain factors such as pre-existing cardiovascular disease, hypertension and high blood pressure and even mental health problems and suicide. She is quoted as saying that more research into the subject and linkage needs to be performed.
It is also interesting to note that, whilst prostate cancer is predominantly a male disease, the same principal of shock news potentially triggering heart attacks could reasonably be applied to women who have been recently diagnosed with breast cancer.