AGEING POPULATIONS DON’T HAVE TO OVERWHELM WORLD’S HEART SYSTEMS
AGEING POPULATIONS DON’T HAVE TO OVERWHELM WORLD’S HEART SYSTEMS
2-6 September 2006, World Congress of Cardiology, Barcelona - The world’s health systems will be severely stretched as rapidly ageing populations cause a corresponding increase in the number of cardiovascular diseases, said World Heart Federation President Valentin Fuster.
However, he cautioned, “Demographic trends don’t have to be cardiologic destiny. We can address the world population’s aging, and the corresponding threat to health care systems, before it becomes an emergency.
“We can prevent the numbers and the costs from overwhelming us by investing more in prevention and early detection. We know the principal culprits: obesity and overweight, physical inactivity and tobacco consumption.
Early detection and convincing people to exercise, eat nutritiously and stop smoking can vastly mitigate the epidemic of cardiovascular disease.”
In developed countries, 20% of the population already is 60 or older, according to the United Nations. By 2050, the figure will be 32%. The developing world is not immune from the trend. Eight percent of the developing world’s population is 60 or older. By 2050, the figure will be close to 20%.1
“The implications for cardiologists are enormous, since the risk of cardiovascular disease increases with age and management of older patients substantially differs from that of younger ones,” said Dr Fuster. “That’s why the World Heart Federation and the European Society of Cardiology chose the XVth World Congress of Cardiology in Barcelona, Spain, to highlight the theme, ‘Cardiovascular Disease and Ageing.’”
An estimated 25,000 cardiologists, scientists and other health-care professionals are gathered at the congress to share and discuss the latest science about the treatment, control and prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
There are symposia on scores of topics, including stem cells, syncope, echocardiography, invasive imaging, hypertension, stroke, arterial thrombosis and rheumatic heart disease, to mention just a few.
There are clinical seminars, too, on such topics as palliative care in congestive heart failure, endocarditis, new biomarkers in acute coronary syndromes, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the latest on cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
But the emphasis is on ageing. There are special sessions about protecting ageing hearts, operating on and evaluating older patients, lipids and the elderly, heart failure and the elderly, echocardiographic insights into myocardial ageing and heart ageing that begins in childhood.
“Imbued with this knowledge, cardiologists will be better equipped to navigate the radically different and challenging epidemiological landscape,” Dr Fuster said.
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1 World Population Prospects, 2004 Revision, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Secretariat.
About the World Heart Federation
The World Heart Federation, a nongovernmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, is committed to helping the global population achieve a longer and better life through prevention and control of heart disease and stroke, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries. It is comprised of 189 member societies of cardiology and heart foundations from over 100 countries covering the regions of Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas and Africa. For further information visit: www.worldheart.org
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