But other health interventions aimed at lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, such as reductions in salt and fat consumption and upping activity levels prevent 4,600 deaths a year.
Academics at the University of Liverpool said the figures showed that more effort should be put into population-wide schemes to improve overall health
“But population wide measures might offer substantially bigger health gains, relieve pressure on an already stressed health system and reduce health inequalities.
“Measures like controlling tobacco increasing physical activity, improving the contents of processed food products, restricting marketing of junk food, taxation of sugary drinks, and subsidies to make healthier foods more affordable require now renewed attention not just from academics, but crucially from people and policymakers.”
Under new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) the majority of men aged over 60 and women over 65 are now offered drugs by their GPs, even if they only have a one in 10 chance of developing cardiovascular disease within a decade.
Nice experts claim that if everyone eligible took statins it would prevent 50,000 deaths a year, but the new research suggests the figure is far lower.
No comments:
Post a Comment