Hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia and related cardiovascular diseases are more dangerous than most people realize, even though cancer is still considered the top cause of death in Taiwan, a National Cheng Kung University Hospital doctor has said.
While the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s June report on the top 10 causes of death last year had cancer in first place, the deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes related to the “three hypers” together would total 48,316 lives, while cancer claimed 48,037, physician Hsieh Tung-han (謝棟漢) said on Wednesday last week.
The number would be even higher if people who died from kidney conditions linked to the three hypers were included, Hsieh said.
Deaths caused by heart disease over the past 10 or so years stand at 87.6 for every 100,000 people, up from 56.7 individuals per 100,000 in 2007, or a 54.5 percentage point increase, Hsieh said.
That growth rate exceeds that of deaths caused by cancer, which stands at 203.9 for every 100,000 people, up from 175.9 for every 100,000 in 2007, a 15.9 percent increase, Hsieh said.
Considering the mortality rate for individuals aged 65 or older over the past decade, those dying from cardiovascular diseases has increased by 16.3 percent, while deaths from cancer have dropped by 11.6 percent, Hsieh said.
Given the “Western-influenced” changes to dietary habits and the nation’s growing elderly population, the threat posed by the three hypers rivals that of cancer, Hsieh added.
Even with new techniques and technology and development of new medications, the prognosis for these diseases has not improved as much as expected, Hsieh said.
The development of the three hypers with cardiovascular or cerebral vascular diseases is clear, and it is not difficult to diagnose and treat these diseases, but the increase in deaths linked to them could be due to lack of prevention or an inability to implement treatment for patients, the doctor said.
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