In ten years, 7.7% of men and 2.6% of women will have a heart attack or stroke. Here are 5 tips to avoid them

7.7% of men and 2.6% of women will have a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. This is estimated by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, given that cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Italy, with over 220,000 deaths a year and an estimated cost of 42 billion euros to the National Health Service. Yet, with prevention, 80% of these events could be avoided. To prevent cardiovascular diseases, World Heart Day is celebrated every year on 29 September. "Don't miss a beat" is the claim of the 2025 campaign, an invitation for everyone to keep their heart's rhythm even with small daily gestures of prevention, while in Italy there are many initiatives planned with free examinations and tests in numerous hospitals. Five easy rules form the basis of the 2025 campaign: move around every day for at least 24 minutes, choose the stairs instead of the lift, practise conscious breathing to reduce stress, eat a balanced diet rich in fruit and vegetables, and have periodic check-ups to monitor blood pressure and cholesterol levels. A check-up done in time can make all the difference.

 The estimate of possible deaths over the next ten years for men and women emerges from preliminary data for 2023-2024 collected by the Italian Health Examination Survey - Progetto Cuore of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Iss) based on gender, age, blood pressure, treatment for hypertension, cholesterolemia, smoking and diabetes. For men aged between 35 and 44 years, the study shows, the average cardiovascular risk is 1.6 per cent, for those aged 45-54 years 4.0 per cent, for those aged 55-64 years 9.4 per cent, and for those aged 65-69 years 16.9 per cent; for women in the same age groups, the average cardiovascular risk is 0.4 per cent, 1.1 per cent, 3.1 per cent, and 5.8 per cent, respectively. Today diseases of the circulatory system are the leading cause of death in Italy: 30.9 per cent of all deaths in 2022. "But most cardiovascular diseases," say the experts, "can be prevented by addressing behavioural and environmental risk factors such as tobacco use, poor diet and obesity, physical inactivity, and air pollution. Health policies that encourage healthy choices are essential'. However, fewer deaths have been recorded in recent years thanks to prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation. The mortality rate (European population, Eurostat 2013) has in fact fallen by 11% in the 6 years from 2017 to 2021. In particular, over the same period, the mortality rate of ischaemic heart diseases has fallen by 18.3 per cent and that of cerebrovascular diseases by 14.8 per cent.

Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing behavioural and environmental risk factors, such as tobacco use, poor diet (including excessive consumption of salt, sugar and fat) and obesity, physical inactivity, alcohol use and pollution. In Italy, the Cardiovascular Diseases Department of the Italian National Institute of Health periodically conducts, as part of the Cuore Project, health surveys involving direct measurements and blood and urine tests in random samples of the population, in order to monitor over time the trend of lifestyles, factors and risk conditions linked to cardiovascular diseases. Experts therefore give five pieces of advice to protect the health of the heart: do not smoke, do not consume too much salt (less than 5 grams per day), consume a large amount of fruit and vegetables, exercise regularly (at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise every week or at least 75 minutes of intense aerobic exercise), and undergo pharmacological treatment in the case of hypertension, diabetes and high blood lipids.

Preliminary data show how widespread the main risk conditions are and highlight the importance of regular monitoring of one's health by measuring key parameters: in 2023-2024 among people aged 35-74 years, 23% of men and 24% of women were found to be obese, 9% of men and 7% of women were found to have diabetes mellitus (among these 2 out of 10 men and 1 out of 10 women were unaware of this) 25% of men and 30% of women were found to have elevated total cholesterolaemia levels or to be on specific drug treatment (among them 2 in 10 men and 2 in 10 women were unaware), and 49% of men and 37% of women were found to have elevated blood pressure levels or to be on specific drug treatment (among them 4 in 10 men and 3 in 10 women were unaware). Analysis of standardised mortality rates for men and women for ischaemic heart disease shows that in men mortality is negligible up to the age of 40, emerges between 40 and 50 years and then increases exponentially with age. In women it emerges about 10 years later, starting at the age of 60, and increases rapidly after the age of 70.