2023-09-27 08:24:40
According to French Federation of Cardiology, each year around 140,000 deaths in France are linked to cardiovascular diseases. Every year, on September 29, World Heart Day is celebrated. On this occasion, initiatives are multiplying to raise awareness among as many people as possible regarding cardiovascular diseases and their issues.
Heart and cardiovascular diseases
The heart appears to many people to be the most important organ in the body. Like other organs, it can be affected by different pathologies, which target only the heart (cardiac pathology) or simultaneously the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular pathology). Many diseases can disrupt the structure or function of the heart. Specialists have grouped them into four main categories:
- Les coronaropathies (coronary artery diseases) and other vascular diseasesoften linked to atherosclerosis ;
- THE structural heart diseaseassociated with structural abnormalities of the heart, particularly of the heart valves, wall or muscle of the heart
- Heart failure the two main causes of which are high blood pressure and heart attack;
- Other cardiac pathologies, including in particular infections touching the heart, enlarged heart or hereditary heart pathologies.
The world heart day is an opportunity to raise awareness among the general public regarding these pathologies, their causes, their risk factors, their diagnoses, their means of prevention and their treatments.
Sudden cardiac death associated with still high mortality
As the 2023 edition of World Heart Day approaches, scientists have just alerted public health authorities in a communication published in the scientific journal The Lancet. For experts, survival following cardiac arrest remains less than 10% in many regions of the world. There sudden cardiac death thus continues to cause millions of deaths each year around the world, despite diagnostic and therapeutic progress in cardiac and vascular medicine. For researchers, measures are urgently needed to improve the situation, including:
- Strengthen the organization of healthcare structures;
- Improve emergency medical systems;
- Train the general public in first aid procedures;
- Inform and raise awareness regarding cardiovascular diseases.
In France, sudden cardiac death affects around 10,000 people each year. When the cause is genetic, screening is the best option to allow better prevention and optimal care. But sudden death can also affect any person, at any age and in any situation. Specialists speak of sudden death recovered when a witness performs cardiac massage in time. In addition, the proliferation of defibrillators in public and/or private places constitutes an additional chance of survival. Among athletes, the presence of a defibrillator in stadiums would have multiplied by 10 the chances of survival in the event of sudden death.
Heart Transplant Runrunning for heart failure and heart transplant
Another aspect of heart health, heart failure which in its most severe forms constitutes a indication for heart transplantation. A few days before World Heart Day, the second edition of the Heart Transplant Run (Sunday September 17, 2023 at Parilly Park). This race aims to raise awareness among the general public regarding heart failure and heart transplants. For this second edition, the organizers are targeting 1,500 participants, with all profits being donated to the associations present during the event.
Stands will be set up around the race to raise awareness regarding heart disease, heart failure and heart transplants. Since 1968, just under 14,000 heart transplants have been carried out in France. At the end of 2017, the Biomedicine Agency estimated the number of patients alive with a functional heart graft at 4,840.
Estelle B., Doctor of Pharmacy
Sources
– The Lancet Commission to reduce the global burden of sudden cardiac death: a call for multidisciplinary action.www.thelancet.com. Consulté le 5 septembre 2023.
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