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Soon every second Pole will have hypertension and elevated cholesterol levels, the number of diabetics will double and in addition we will face an obesity epidemic – according to the NATPOL 2011 study.
Identification and assessment of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases was the subject of the NATPOL cross-sectional study cycle, which was carried out in Poland in 1994-2002. At the end of 2010, a new project was launched – NATPOL 2011, under which 2418 Poles were examined.
Interventional cardiology
The health condition of Poles has been systematically improving since 1990. We live 4 years longer than in the last decade of the last century, mainly due to the reduction in the number of people dying of heart disease. However, in terms of mortality from these diseases, we are still at the forefront of Europe. As statistics show, these diseases cause 45% of all deaths in our country. We owe the improvement compared to previous years to the intensively developing interventional cardiology, thanks to which fewer patients with a heart attack die. However, 54% of the improvement comes from lifestyle changes. – Extending the average life span of Poles includes merit of Leszek Balcerowicz. His reforms enriched society, and this changed the way of life more than any preventive actions. We eat more fruits, vegetables, fish, oil. Poles started to play sports – says prof. Zbigniew Gaciong, an outstanding specialist in the treatment of arterial hypertension.
Efficacy of arterial hypertension treatment in Poland
Compared to 2002, the effectiveness of arterial hypertension treatment has improved twice. Prof. Gaciong reminds that it is the main cause of premature death. In his opinion, we owe the positive changes to educational campaigns, easier access to treatment, because after the reform of the health care system, family doctors deal with patients with hypertension, as well as cheap national medicines for this disease that patients can afford. As a result, today 26% of patients are successfully treated, while in 2002 there were only 12% of them. National cardiology consultant prof. Grzegorz Opolski emphasizes that we still have a lot to do in this regard, because, for example, in Canada, 65% of patients are successfully treated for hypertension. Moreover, compared to 2002, the number of patients with hypertension in Poland increased by 2%. Currently, every third Pole suffers from it, and as many as 3 million do not know about it.
Elevated cholesterol
The number of people with elevated cholesterol also decreased by about 9%. Still, more than half of the population of our country has a cholesterol level above 190 mg / dl. Worse still, every third young Pole aged 18-34 has too high cholesterol, which means that prevention should be started in kindergarten. – Child obesity promotes too high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. The level of fats and lipoproteins in the blood increases during the first two years of life. Then in children 2 years of age it is similar to that in young adults. So in order for young hearts to be healthy, you must not get overweight, says Gaciong. Among 18 million Poles with elevated cholesterol levels, almost 11 million are not aware of this fact. The percentage of obese people has increased in the last decade. The number of diabetics has also increased. The decrease in the number of smokers is also a positive tendency. The percentage of smokers is 27%, 7% lower than 10 years ago. Interestingly, there are definitely more men who quit smoking. The percentage of male non-smokers decreased by 12%, and women by only 3%. Among women aged 18-34, every fifth is a smoker.
NATPOL health forecast
Based on the NATPOL survey, specialists have prepared a health forecast for Poland for the next 20 years. If the current trends continue, the number of people suffering from hypertension will increase. The incidence of hypertension will increase from the current 32% to over 50% over the next twenty years, so the number of patients will exceed 15 million.
Elevated cholesterol will be roughly the same number of people as today. If the current trend continued, we would almost completely eliminate smokers. Unfortunately, we are facing an obesity epidemic. The percentage of obese people will increase from 22% to 33%, ie their number will increase from 6,5 million to over 9 million in 2035. And thus there will be more diabetics. If we do not change our lifestyle, the prevalence of diabetes among adult Poles will increase from 25% to 6% in the next 12 years. Scientists also predict that health indicators will also be worse due to the aging of the population.
However, doctors emphasize that the weather forecasts differ in the meteorological ones that the former can be improved thanks to appropriate actions. – World studies show that our health depends at least half on ourselves – says prof. Tomasz Zdrojewski, coordinator of the NATPOL 2011 research project. – It is known that proper diet, exercise or not smoking are factors that affect our health to a greater extent than the development of modern cardiology – he adds
Text: Halina Pilonis
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