A Perfect Storm - high blood pressure cuts across the population
Submitted by Jeff on January 26, 2010 - 11:34am
The new Heart and Stroke Foundation Report Card on Canadian's Health highlights the looming crisis in heart health caused by the convergence of risk factors in new groups of people. Cardiovascular risk is usually associated with aging, but new research shows that younger and younger people are increasingly susceptible to risk factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and smoking that lead to heart attacks and stroke.
Between 1994 and 2005, rates of blood pressure among Canadians skyrocketed by 77%, diabetes by 45% and obesity by 18% - affecting both younger and older Canadians.
The people at highest risk are boomers in the their 50s and the cohort coming up right after them. Unless something drastic happens, lots of these folks will be heading into old age already with high blood pressure, overweight, and physically inactive.
The report advocates avoiding the consequences of this dire situation by implementing the reccomendations of the Canadian Heart Health Strategy.
;lkj
