Cardiovascular diseases and nutrition in Europe: every second to third premature death preventable (FOTO)

Halle (ots) -

Of the 4.3 million cardiovascular deaths in Europe in 2016, 2.1
million were the result of poor nutrition. The 28 EU member states
account for around 900,000, Russia for 600,000 and the Ukraine for
250,000 of these deaths. Every second to third premature
cardiovascular death could be prevented by better nutrition. These
were the findings of an international research team led by the Martin
Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Friedrich Schiller
University Jena, the nutriCARD competence cluster and the University
of Washington in the USA. The findings were published in the current
issue of the "European Journal of Epidemiology".

For the study, the team evaluated representative data from the
Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) which were collected between
1990 to 2016. They analysed the prevalence of cardiovascular
diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes, in the 51 countries that
the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated as "European
region". In addition to the EU member states and other European
countries, several states in the Middle East and Central Asia were
also included, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel, Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Based on
food consumption and other risk factors in the respective countries,
the researchers calculated the percentage of deaths attributable to
an unbalanced diet, for example, the underconsumption of whole grain
products, nuts, seeds and vegetables, as well as the overconsumption
of salt.

A comparison of the countries revealed clear differences: In 2016,
160,000 deaths (46 per cent of all cardiovascular deaths) were
associated with an unbalanced diet in Germany, 97,000 (41 per cent)
in Italy, 75,000 (41 per cent) in Great Britain and 67,000 (40 per
cent) in France. In Israel and Spain, however, only one in three
premature cardiovascular deaths was diet-related. Specific country
profiles were published as part of the study: "In Sweden and Norway
the underconsumption of nuts and seeds is most strongly associated
with cardiovascular diseases, while in many Central and Eastern
European and Central Asian countries the low intake of whole grain
products poses the greatest risk. Or to put it another way: Increased
consumption of low-fibre white flour products has led to an increase
in cardiovascular disease in recent years. In Albania, Azerbaijan and
Uzbekistan, the number of cases has more than doubled in the period
under review," says Dr Toni Meier from MLU, who heads the study.

"Our findings are crucially relevant for health policy and should
be incorporated in the development of future prevention strategies,"
adds Professor Stefan Lorkowski of the University of Jena, co-author
of the study and spokesperson for the nutriCARD competence cluster.
"We must make better use of the potential of a balanced and healthy
diet, otherwise cardiometabolic diseases will be the cause of even
more preventable deaths in the future."

The team also found significant differences in terms of age and
gender: men tended to be affected at a younger age, while women were
only affected from the age of 50 onwards. In 2016, around 601,000
people under the age of 70 died from diet-related cardiovascular
disease, 420,000 of them men and 181,000 women. The highest
proportion of diet-related deaths among the under-70s was observed in
Central Asia, where the figure was 42.5 per cent. In the EU member
states, the researchers identified 178,000 premature diet-related
deaths - 132,000 of them men and 46,000 of them women - which
corresponds to almost 20 per cent of cardiovascular deaths.

With the help of a calculation model, the researchers were also
able to determine the effects of other risk factors such as obesity,
high blood pressure, lack of exercise and smoking, thereby
identifying the specific proportion of cardiovascular disease caused
by an improper diet. "It should also be emphasised that the
well-known risk factor of alcohol was not taken into account by our
study. In countries with a high consumption of alcohol the degree of
diet-related cardiovascular disease could be even higher," remarks
nutritionist Professor Gabriele Stangl from the MLU.

The Competence Cluster for Nutrition and Cardiovascular Health
(nutriCARD) combines basic and applied nutrition research conducted
by the universities of Jena, Leipzig and Halle-Wittenberg cooperating
within the Central German University Alliance. The Cluster is funded
by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The aims of
nutriCARD are: the development of cardioprotective foods, the
elucidation of nutrient interactions in the organism and the
implementation of proper communication strategies. In nutriCARD,
about 40 scientists from different disciplines as well as about 80
non-academic partners work together.

Article: Meier T. et al. Cardiovascular mortality attributable to
dietary risk factors in 51 countries in the WHO European Region from
1990 to 2016: a systematic analysis of the Global Burden of Disease
Study. European Journal of Epidemiology (2019). doi:
10.1007/s10654-018-0473-x

Link to the country profiles: http://ots.de/PnFGDX

Contact:
Dr. Toni Meier
Institute for Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences
Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg
Innovation Office nutriCARD
Tel: +49 345 55-22650
toni.meier@landw.uni-halle.de
www.nutriCARD.de

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