Even after ten years of campaigning for the prevention Italians still seem impervious to change their behavior to avoid the cardiovascular risks, and even obesity and inactivity increase in the population, especially one with a lower socioeconomic level. The alarm is by an updated map of cardiovascular risk, presented in Rome during the Fourth Conference on Prevention sponsored by the Association of Hospital Cardiologists (ANMCO) and National Institute of Health.
Among the main themes of the conference is just the “promotion of healthy lifestyles in different population groups, a problem which according to epidemiological data disseminated, affecting men and women between 35 and 79 years of age and are were compared with those from similar surveys undertaken ten years ago, is still more than this.
Among men, obesity is increasing (from 19 to 25%) and metabolic syndrome (a set of risk factors such as blood glucose and abdominal circumference, which has grown from 24 to 28%), while in women these factors remain high although unchanged (24% for obesity, 22% to 8% for metabolic syndrome and diabetes). The results are even more dramatic if one looks at the lowest economic strata of society where, for example, obesity and diabetes in 33% to 16%.
“One of the best ways to achieve good cardiovascular prevention is” risk stratify “- explains Salvatore Pirelli, president dell’Anmco – that is, identify who within the population, are most at risk of being affected by cardiac and vascular disorders.
Alongside these negative signals but there is also some reason for optimism: “Some good news there – said Simona Giampaoli ISS – for example, among the risk factors, it was found in both men and women a downward trend in blood pressure, not only because of the increased proportion of hypertensives treated properly, but mainly to the higher proportion of people with normal pressures, thanks to preventive strategies. What we study carefully – added the  expert – is today the concept of genetic and lifestyle: if an entire family is obese, could mean that it is a hereditary issue. But it could also be that all members of this family adopt the wrong lifestyle. “