Heart and cardiovascular disease deaths drop dramatically In Norway

"Life was hard in occupied Norway during WWII, but the occupation had one surprising result: deaths from heart attacks dropped precipitously, because Norwegians ate less fat, smoked less and were more physically active. Now, in the last half of the 20th century, Norway has seen a similar precipitous drop in heart attack deaths, but this time due to focused prevention programmes and improved treatment, reports a researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Writing in the latest issue of the Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association, NTNU Professor Kaare Harald Bønaa notes that the percentage of deaths due to heart disease and cardiovascular disease dropped from 50 per cent in 1975 to 33 per cent in 2009 in Norway, and that deaths from heart attacks alone dropped to levels that were last seen during WWII. Bønaa is a professor of heart and cardiovascular disease epidemiology at NTNU, and is chief physician in charge in intervention cardiology at St Olavs Hospital in Trondheim"

Years of heavy smoking raises heart risks

Highlighting the negative impact tobacco use has on cardiovascular health, researchers say that heavy smokers were 2.5 times more likely to die than their non-smoking peers during a 30-year study in Norway. The newly available research found that nonsmokers lived longer and experienced fewer incidents of heart attack and cardiovascular disease than smokers, especially when compared with heavy smokers (those who lit up at least 20 cigarettes a day). Smokers were also at greater risk of developing diabetes and strokes than nonsmokers, according to the study findings, presented last week at the EuroPRevent 2009 conference in Stockholm, Sweden.