https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(12)61766-8.pdf

A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010

Randomised trial of cholesterol lowering in 4444 patients with coronary heart disease: the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S)

Recent scientific work has established both a theoretical basis and strong empirical evidence for a causal impact of social relationships on health. Prospective studies, which control for baseline health status, consistently show increased risk of death among persons with a low quantity, and sometimes low quality, of social relationships. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies of humans and animals also suggest that social isolation is a major risk factor for mortality from widely varying causes. The mechanisms through which social relationships affect health and the factors that promote or inhibit the development and maintenance of social relationships remain to be explored.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/241/4865/540.full.pdf

Social relationships and health.

ABI
: ankle–brachial index
ACCORD
: Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes
ADVANCE
: Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron Modified Release Controlled Evaluation
AGREE
: Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation
AHA
: American Heart Association
apoA1
: apolipoprotein A1
apoB
: apolipoprotein B
CABG
: coronary artery bypass graft surgery
CARDS
: Collaborative AtoRvastatin Diabetes Study
CCNAP
: Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions
CHARISMA
: Clopidogrel for High Athero-thrombotic Risk and Ischemic Stabilisation, Management, and Avoidance
CHD
: coronary heart disease
CKD
: chronic kidney disease
COMMIT
: Clopidogrel and Metoprolol in Myocardial Infarction Trial
CRP
: C-reactive protein
CURE
: Clopidogrel in Unstable Angina to Prevent Recurrent Events
CVD
: cardiovascular disease
DALYs
: disability-adjusted life years
DBP
: diastolic blood pressure
DCCT
: Diabetes Control and Complications Trial
ED
: erectile dysfunction
eGFR
: estimated glomerular filtration rate
EHN
: European Heart Network
EPIC
: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition
EUROASPIRE
: European Action on Secondary and Primary Prevention through Intervention to Reduce Events
GFR
: glomerular filtration rate
GOSPEL
: Global Secondary Prevention Strategies to Limit Event Recurrence After MI
GRADE
: Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation
HbA1c
: glycated haemoglobin
HDL
: high-density lipoprotein
HF-ACTION
: Heart Failure and A Controlled Trial Investigating Outcomes of Exercise TraiNing
HOT
: Hypertension Optimal Treatment Study
HPS
: Heart Protection Study
HR
: hazard ratio
hsCRP
: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein
HYVET
: Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial
ICD
: International Classification of Diseases
IMT
: intima-media thickness
INVEST
: International Verapamil SR/Trandolapril
JTF
: Joint Task Force
LDL
: low-density lipoprotein
Lp(a)
: lipoprotein(a)
LpPLA2
: lipoprotein-associated phospholipase 2
LVH
: left ventricular hypertrophy
MATCH
: Management of Atherothrombosis with Clopidogrel in High-risk Patients with Recent Transient Ischaemic Attack or Ischaemic Stroke
MDRD
: Modification of Diet in Renal Disease
MET
: metabolic equivalent
MONICA
: Multinational MONItoring of trends and determinants in CArdiovascular disease
NICE
: National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence
NRT
: nicotine replacement therapy
NSTEMI
: non-ST elevation myocardial infarction
ONTARGET
: Ongoing Telmisartan Alone and in combination with Ramipril Global Endpoint Trial
OSA
: obstructive sleep apnoea
PAD
: peripheral artery disease
PCI
: percutaneous coronary intervention
PROactive
: Prospective Pioglitazone Clinical Trial in Macrovascular Events
PWV
: pulse wave velocity
QOF
: Quality and Outcomes Framework
RCT
: randomized clinical trial
RR
: relative risk
SBP
: systolic blood pressure
SCORE
: Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation Project
SEARCH
: Study of the Effectiveness of Additional Reductions in Cholesterol and
SHEP
: Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program
STEMI
: ST-elevation myocardial infarction
SU.FOL.OM3
: SUpplementation with FOlate, vitamin B6 and B12 and/or OMega-3 fatty acids
Syst-Eur
: Systolic Hypertension in Europe
TNT
: Treating to New Targets
UKPDS
: United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study
VADT
: Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trial
VALUE
: Valsartan Antihypertensive Long-term Use
VITATOPS
: VITAmins TO Prevent Stroke
VLDL
: very low-density lipoprotein
WHO
: World Health Organization

### 1.1 Introduction

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a chronic disorder developing insidiously throughout life and usually progressing to an advanced stage by the time symptoms occur. It remains the major cause of premature death in Europe, even though CVD mortality has …

/pdf/european-guidelines-on-cardiovascular-disease-prevention-in-4z4nw4311i.pdf

European Guidelines on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Clinical Practice (Version 2012)

March 5, 2019 e1 WRITING GROUP MEMBERS Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, FAHA, Chair Paul Muntner, PhD, MHS, FAHA, Vice Chair Alvaro Alonso, MD, PhD, FAHA Marcio S. Bittencourt, MD, PhD, MPH Clifton W. Callaway, MD, FAHA April P. Carson, PhD, MSPH, FAHA Alanna M. Chamberlain, PhD Alexander R. Chang, MD, MS Susan Cheng, MD, MMSc, MPH, FAHA Sandeep R. Das, MD, MPH, MBA, FAHA Francesca N. Delling, MD, MPH Luc Djousse, MD, ScD, MPH Mitchell S.V. Elkind, MD, MS, FAHA Jane F. Ferguson, PhD, FAHA Myriam Fornage, PhD, FAHA Lori Chaffin Jordan, MD, PhD, FAHA Sadiya S. Khan, MD, MSc Brett M. Kissela, MD, MS Kristen L. Knutson, PhD Tak W. Kwan, MD, FAHA Daniel T. Lackland, DrPH, FAHA Tené T. Lewis, PhD Judith H. Lichtman, PhD, MPH, FAHA Chris T. Longenecker, MD Matthew Shane Loop, PhD Pamela L. Lutsey, PhD, MPH, FAHA Seth S. Martin, MD, MHS, FAHA Kunihiro Matsushita, MD, PhD, FAHA Andrew E. Moran, MD, MPH, FAHA Michael E. Mussolino, PhD, FAHA Martin O’Flaherty, MD, MSc, PhD Ambarish Pandey, MD, MSCS Amanda M. Perak, MD, MS Wayne D. Rosamond, PhD, MS, FAHA Gregory A. Roth, MD, MPH, FAHA Uchechukwu K.A. Sampson, MD, MBA, MPH, FAHA Gary M. Satou, MD, FAHA Emily B. Schroeder, MD, PhD, FAHA Svati H. Shah, MD, MHS, FAHA Nicole L. Spartano, PhD Andrew Stokes, PhD David L. Tirschwell, MD, MS, MSc, FAHA Connie W. Tsao, MD, MPH, Vice Chair Elect Mintu P. Turakhia, MD, MAS, FAHA Lisa B. VanWagner, MD, MSc, FAST John T. Wilkins, MD, MS, FAHA Sally S. Wong, PhD, RD, CDN, FAHA Salim S. Virani, MD, PhD, FAHA, Chair Elect On behalf of the American Heart Association Council on Epidemiology and Prevention Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee

Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2019 Update: A Report From the American Heart Association

Evaluation of a national Quit and Win contest: determinants for successful quitting.

Psychology in action. Mass communication and community organization for public health education.

Globalization is as applicable to health issues as to those of trade and economics (1). The increased frequency of travel, distribution of goods, migration, spread of communications and marketing of new lifestyles have promoted a set of risks and health challenges shared by all countries of the world, despite their varied resources, levels of development, demographics and other important considerations (2). The ability of any one country to solve these new challenges on its own is increasingly difﬁcult and certainly inefﬁcient.In many countries, health authorities have established scientiﬁc entities that serve as national resources to prevent and control health problems through research, interventions or the development of policies. There is an increasing tendency to merge these entities and develop more comprehensive public health institutes to deal with the various issues from a public health perspective. We describe the current nature and status of such national public health institutes (NPHIs) and consider the elements that might make them increasingly effective in preventing disease and promoting health in an increasingly interdependent world.An NPHI is an organizational unit of a national govern-ment health ministry (not of a state or province), which serves the whole country as a source of technical public health expertise and would be the unit called upon to respond to public health

/pdf/improving-the-world-s-health-through-national-public-health-5bfsu6et96.pdf

Improving the world's health through national public health institutes

Interdependence of associations of physical activity, smoking, and alcohol and coffee consumption with serum high-density lipoprotein and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol--a population study in eastern Finland.

Objective To examine the relationship between mortality and diastolic blood pressure during treatment. Design A prospective follow-up of a population-based dynamic cohort of hypertensive patients. Setting Province of North Karelia, eastern Finland. Patients A cohort of 16 913 North Karelian hypertensive patients in hypertension register of the North Karelia Project, who had been followed up since 1972 until the end of 1985. Most of these patients had been under antihypertensive drug therapy during the follow-up. Main outcome measures Death: all deaths (n = 4490), deaths from cardiovascular disease (n = 2995) and deaths from non-cardiovascular disease (n = 1495). Results Of all deaths, 17% of those among men and 24% of those among women were of patients with mean diastolic blood pressures less than 90 mmHg. We found a U-shaped relationship between diastolic blood pressure and total, cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular mortalities. We investigated this relationship in more detail using Cox regression model. Low diastolic blood pressure was associated independently with increased mortality for the patients aged 50 years or more at baseline. The occurrence of cardiac failure and other cardiovascular complications of hypertension were more important determinants of mortality than was low diastolic blood pressure alone. Conclusions We demonstrated that there is an association between low diastolic blood pressure and mortality for treated hypertensive patients aged 50-69 years. The clinical importance of this relationship for patients without any cardiovascular complications of hypertension seems negligible. For patients with complications, these complications are likely to be primary factors causing greater than normal mortality and low diastolic blood pressure is mostly a secondary phenomenon. Our data do not lend support to speculations that there is overtreatment of hypertension, which would increase mortality through making diastolic blood pressures too low.

Pekka Puska

Papers

Evaluation of a national Quit and Win contest: determinants for successful quitting.

Psychology in action. Mass communication and community organization for public health education.

Improving the world's health through national public health institutes

Interdependence of associations of physical activity, smoking, and alcohol and coffee consumption with serum high-density lipoprotein and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol--a population study in eastern Finland.

Low diastolic blood pressure and mortality in a population-based cohort of 16913 hypertensive patients in North Karelia, Finland.