Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is currently working on a new draft law to improve the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The German Diabetes Society (DDG) welcomes this approach, but calls for a more holistic approach that covers all common diseases.
As the DDG stated in a statement on the new draft law, common diseases should be understood as an interaction and planned preventative measures should not be based solely on the heart.
How should heart disease prevention be improved?
The new prevention law against cardiovascular diseases focuses on the following areas of action:
- improving early detection,
- the expansion of disease management programs (DMP),
- reducing nicotine consumption.
Why is this approach not enough from the DDG’s perspective?
For the DDG, this approach does not go far enough. Although heart disease is still the most common cause of death worldwide, common diseases such as diabetes and obesity are often the precursors. Many of the risk factors that lead to chronic underlying diseases are not reduced by these measures.
What are the biggest risk factors for common diseases?
Just like cardiovascular diseases, other common diseases such as type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, chronic kidney disease and neurodegenerative diseases are in most cases caused by a poor lifestyle, which is characterized by
- unhealthy diet,
- lack of exercise,
- Smoke,
- excessive alcohol consumption.
Diabetes is a driver of heart disease
“It has been known for more than 20 years that the lifestyle factors mentioned above can trigger other diseases even before they lead to cardiovascular diseases,” confirms DDG President Professor Dr. med. Andreas Fritsche.
Diabetes is even a driver of cardiovascular diseases. Around three out of four people with diabetes die from a heart attack or stroke. Compared to healthy people, men with diabetes are 2 to 4 times more likely to die from heart disease. In women the risk is even six times higher.
More holistic approach to combating common diseases
The DDG therefore calls for a more holistic approach to combating common diseases. No chronic illness can stand alone. Children and young people in particular need to be better informed about the consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle. The specialist society therefore suggests four measures to prevent all of the common diseases mentioned:
- Daily exercise, especially in daycare centers and schools,
- Introduction of a sugar and fat tax,
- binding quality standards for meals in daycare centers and schools,
- Ban on advertising unhealthy foods aimed at children.
In an overall concept for the prevention of the most common diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, high blood pressure and obesity, the DDG believes that resources could be better bundled, used more sensibly and implemented more effectively. (vb)
