Cardiovascular disease: risk factors in older Canadians.
Year: 1999
Type: letter
Abstract: — the former presumably being the result of preventive efforts and the latter the result of improvements in medical care. However, we should not take too much comfort from these trends. Despite the declines, cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death and disability in men and women, as well as the leading cause of premature death. Perhaps more important is the likely impact of changing demographics in Canada as the population ages. It is worthwhile to note that people at the leading edge of the baby-boom generation are just now entering the years when chronic diseases typically develop. Therefore, even with rates of cardiovascular disease continuing to decline, the absolute numbers of cases of heart disease and stroke will probably increase, perhaps dramatically, in the early part of the next century. If this situation develops, there will almost certainly be a significant increase in the demand for acute care related to these diseases and a concomitant increase in the need for acute care personnel and facilities. These increases will in turn add further to the costs of care in the already financially strained health care sector. The papers presented in this supplement 6,7 provide specific information about the epidemiology of cardiovascular disease in older Canadians. The data come from the Canadian Heart Health Surveys database, an integrated data set derived from the provincial heart health surveys, which were conducted in every province of Canada according to a common protocol developed in Nova Scotia. 8 The establishment and maintenance of this database has been an integral component of the Canadian Heart Health Initiative, a Canada-wide research and development program funded jointly through research grants from the National Health Research and Development Program of Health Canada and program grants from the provincial departments of health. The initiative is a unique undertaking for the prevention and control of heart disease and the promotion of heart health. It uses a public health approach, promoting action on the determinants of heart health through a partnership model, mainly at the community level. 9
Source: PubMed
Author: D R MacLean
Language: English
Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2102392765