High Blood Pressure, Obesity & Diabetes Rampant

Story first appeared in Reuters.

Health data released on Wednesday provided the clearest evidence to date of the spread of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease from developed nations to poorer regions such as Africa, as lifestyles and diets there change. Medical Supplies such as Blood Pressure Units and Doctor Bags are scarce in these poorer regions, and result in lowered awareness of health problems that do exist.

The United Nations data showed one in three adults worldwide has raised blood pressure - the cause of around half of all deaths from stroke and heart disease - and the condition affects almost half the adult population in some countries in Africa.

In its annual report on global health, the Geneva-based World Health Organisation (WHO) also said one in 10 adults worldwide has diabetes, an illness that costs billions of dollars to treat and puts sufferers at risk of heart disease, kidney failure and blindness.

While the average global prevalence of diabetes is around 10 percent, the report said, up to a third of the population in some Pacific Island countries have the condition.

Chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer are often thought of as illnesses which primarily affect people in wealthy nations, where high fat diets, alcohol consumption and smoking are major health risks.

But the WHO says almost 80 percent of deaths from such diseases now occur in low- and middle-income countries.

In Africa, rising smoking rates, a shift towards Western- style diets and less exercise mean chronic or so-called non-communicable diseases are rising rapidly and are expected to surpass other diseases as the most common killers by 2020.

This report is further evidence of the dramatic increase in the conditions that trigger heart disease and other chronic illnesses, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. In some African countries, as much as half the adult population has high blood pressure.

This year's WHO statistical report was the first to include data from all 194 member countries on the percentage of men and women with high blood pressure, or hypertension, and with raised blood sugar levels, a symptom of diabetes.

This report does not examine the causes behind the rising or falling numbers, but seeks to give a snapshot of major diseases and health risks affecting the global population.

In wealthy countries, widespread diagnosis and treatment with low-cost drugs have significantly reduced average blood pressure readings across populations - and this has contributed to a reduction in deaths from heart disease, the WHO said.

But in Africa, more than 40 percent -- and in some places up to 50 percent - of adults in many countries are estimated to have high blood pressure.

Most of these people remain undiagnosed, the report said, and yet many could be treated with inexpensive medicines - an intervention that would cut the risk of death and disability from heart disease and stroke.

Obesity is another major issue, the WHO said, with data showing rates of obesity doubling in every region of the world between 1980 and 2008.

Today, half a billion people - or 12 percent of the world's population - are considered obese.

The highest obesity levels are in the Americas, where 26 percent of adults are obese, and the lowest are in south east Asia, at 3 percent of adults.

The report found that women in all parts of the world are more likely to be obese than men, and are therefore at greater risk of diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

The WHO's World Health Statistics report is published annually and contains data from 194 countries on a range of health indicators including life expectancy, illnesses and deaths from various diseases, health services, treatments, and risk factors or behaviors that affect health.

World Health Statistics 2012 is available at: here .

Other key trends identified in the report include:

* Maternal deaths:

- In 20 years, the number of maternal deaths has dropped from more than 540,000 in 1990 to less than 290,000 in 2010 - a decline of 47 percent. A third of these deaths were in just two countries - India with 20 percent of the global total, and Nigeria with 14 percent.

* Child deaths:

- Data from 2000 to 2010 show the world has made significant progress in reducing child deaths, cutting them from almost 10 million under-fives in 2000 to 7.6 million in 2010. Falls in numbers of deaths from diarrheal disease and measles have been particularly striking, the WHO said.

* Death registration:

- Only 34 countries - representing 15 percent of the world's population - produce high-quality cause-of-death data. In low and middle-income countries, fewer than 10 percent of deaths are registered.

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Novartis gets FDA OK for Blood Pressure Treatment

Reuters

 

Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG received U.S. approval for a new treatment of high blood pressure, broadening the use of Tekturna, the successor to the group's best-selling drug, Diovan.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Tekamlo tablets, a single-pill treatment of high blood pressure combining Tekturna with the widely used calcium channel blocker amlodipine, the Swiss group said on Friday.

Studies showed Tekamlo significantly reduced blood pressure compared to amlodipine or Tekturna alone, Novartis said.

Tekturna is from a new class of drugs that works by directly blocking the hormone renin. Other hypertension drugs also work on the renin-angiotensin system, which regulates blood pressure.

Tekturna's success is key for Novartis as Diovan -- also a high blood pressure treatment -- loses patent protection in 2012.

The group said an estimated 1 billion people globally have high blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, the top cause of death globally.

If left untreated, high blood pressure can cause strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and organ damage, including kidney failure and vision problems. In Michigan, treatment should be sought from a Dearborn cardiology specialist.

In a separate release, Novartis said Swiss authorities approved its leukemia drug Tasigna for adults with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) in chronic phase.

Patterns: Added Sugar and High Blood Pressure

NY Times

A new study suggests that foods high in added sugar may increase the risk of high blood pressure.

Researchers analyzed data for 4,528 adults with no history of hypertension who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2003-6. Those who consumed at least 2.6 ounces a day of fructose in the form of table sugar or high-fructose corn syrup were found to have almost double the risk for systolic blood pressure higher than 160. (The top number of the two, a measure of blood pressure while the heart is beating, it should normally be no higher than 120.)

“Systolic pressure is really what physicians are interested in, because it’s related to outcomes, and the increase is pretty dramatic,” said Dr. Michel Chonchol, an associate professor of medicine at University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center and the senior author of the paper, which appeared in The Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

But Dr. Chonchol cautioned that more research was needed to prove that added fructose played a causal role in hypertension. “This needs to be proven with the next step, which is a randomized controlled trial,” he said.

The American Heart Association recommends limiting food and beverages with added sugars. In a statement last year, the association said an “emerging but inconclusive body of evidence” suggested “that increased intake of added sugars might raise blood pressure.”

16 Firms Join NY Mayor's Quest to Cut Sodium

Reuters

Goal is to cut salt in food products by a quarter.

Starbucks and Heinz were among 16 U.S. food companies pledging on Monday to cut salt levels in their products as part of a national campaign started by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The pledges are part of Bloomberg's National Salt Reduction Initiative, a coalition of cities and health organizations that aim to reduce salt in restaurant and packaged foods by 25 percent over five years.

Starbucks will cut salt in its breakfast sandwiches, while Heinz will reduce sodium levels in its ketchup and marinades, and Boar's Head will cut salt in all manner of cured meats, cold cuts and sausages.

Other companies involved are Au Bon Pain, FreshDirect, Goya, Hain Celestial Group, Kraft, LiDestri, Mars Food US, McCain Foods, Red Gold Inc., Subway, Unilever, Uno Chicago Grill and White Rose.

Eating too much salt is a major cause of high blood pressure, which raises the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to Livonia Stroke Care experts. Salt intake has been rising since the 1970s, with Americans consuming about twice the recommended daily limit.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said this month it is considering recommendations from an influential federal panel on ways to reduce salt intake in the United States including federal regulation of salt content in foods.

Bloomberg applauded the companies' voluntary goals, saying this was necessary to escape regulation from Washington.

"I would rather have the flexibility to have some products low and some products high and meet the demands of the marketplace, but keep the government out of my business," Bloomberg said.

As part of Monday's announcement, Mars Foods said it will reduce sodium from 800 mg to 600 mg per serving of its flavored Uncle Ben's rice products.

But most companies would not discuss what particular products would change and by how much. Under the plan they can decide to reduce sodium in some products and not others, as long as the average reduction -- weighted by the sales numbers -- meets the 25 percent target.

SODIUM REDUCTION

A Kraft spokeswoman said the company already had embarked on a 10 percent average sodium reduction across our North American portfolio over the next two years.

That means working toward a total average reduction across the North American business instead of specific targets in every category in which we compete.

Starbucks did not state which products it would alter.

Salt is used primarily to improve flavor, leaving consumers and businesses worried that some foods may not taste the same after sodium is cut. But this agreement leaves companies free to choose which products to modify, provided the products with less sodium sell sufficiently to meet a target of reducing salt consumption by 20 percent.

The initiative targets restaurants and packaged food because only 11 percent of sodium in American diets is added by consumers. Nearly 80 percent is added to foods before they are sold, the New York City Health Department reported.

The current proposals are designed to reduce Americans' salt consumption by 20 percent by 2014.

If they have even a smallish reduction in a very good selling product, that can be a substantial reduction across the entire range of products, say Riverview Cardiologists.

Wayne Stroke Care researchers found recently that cutting salt intake by nearly 10 percent could prevent hundreds of thousands of heart attacks and strokes over several decades and save the United States $32 billion in healthcare costs.

Bloomberg, in his third term as mayor, has become an advocate for healthy living by banning smoking and trans fat, requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts of their menu items and campaigning against sugary drinks.
 

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