Cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death in Germany, with one in two people dying from such diseases. Approximately 250,000 strokes occur annually (50,000 are fatal). 75% are caused by sudden vascular occlusion with subsequent death of brain tissue, in 25% the cause is bleeding in the brain. In both cases, hypertension is numerically the most important risk factor for stroke, followed by smoking, diabetes and elevated cholesterol. After 3 months, 1/3 of all stroke patients are deceased or permanently severely disabled and in need of care, 10% have moderate disability, and the remainder have mild disability or loss of function.
Causes
More than 400,000 heart attacks occur annually, of which more than 40% are fatal. Heart attacks result from acute blockage of the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. Such clots are usually the result of arteriosclerosis of the coronary arteries. The main risk factors are cholesterol elevation, smoking and diabetes. High blood pressure is not the first-ranking risk factor for myocardial infarction (unlike stroke) nevertheless the risk of myocardial infarction can also be significantly reduced by lowering blood pressure.
Burden on family members and the economy
Strokes and myocardial infarctions have enormous individual and economic significance: due to the disability following a stroke and due to the reduction in resilience following a myocardial infarction, the affected person and his or her family suffer severe losses in quality of life. These diseases also cause enormous costs due to hospital treatment, rehabilitation, loss of working hours and disability. In addition, especially after strokes, there may be enormous follow-up costs due to disability and the need for nursing care.
Prevention
The most effective protection against stroke and heart attack is the optimization of individual risk factors. This includes, in addition to healthy lifestyles (normalizing weight, getting plenty of exercise, refraining from smoking and excessive alcohol consumption), the use of appropriate medications to normalize elevated blood pressure and cholesterol. The effectiveness of such measures has been clearly proven scientifically. For many patients, therefore, stroke and heart attack would be “an avoidable drama.” Source: Prof. Dr. med. Peter Baumgart, Med. clinic I, Clemenshospital Münster; Haas and Health Partner Public Relations.
