Heart Disease and Stroke

The number of Canadians with hypertension has increased every year since the early 2000s. According to the most recent data (2023), 8.2 million people have been diagnosed with hypertension during their lifetime in Canada. High blood pressure is the main risk factor for stroke and also contributes to the development of heart disease.

Several lifestyle habits can influence hypertension, such as a diet of low nutritional quality, especially foods high in sodium, a sedentary lifestyle and smoking. The risk of hypertension increases with age, but the earlier in life it occurs, the greater the risk of cardiovascular disease.

“If you live a long time, you have a 40% chance of dying of your heart in Canada and that hasn’t really changed in the last 50 years. Age becomes the main risk factor for everyone. You have to die of something,” summarizes the D in an interview^r George Honos, cardiologist at CHUM and spokesperson for Heart + Stroke.

There are risk factors over which individuals have no control, including gender, age, family history and ethnicity.

In relation to risk factors associated with lifestyle, the report highlights that the consumption of fruit and vegetables has been declining among all age groups over the past ten years.

On the other hand, physical activity plays an important role in the prevention of hypertension and cholesterol. Canadian guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week and that children and youth get 60 minutes every day. However, only two young people in ten manage to respect the recommendation, and among adults, it is less than half (46%).

Everyone’s responsibility

However, thanks to medical advances, the death rate from heart disease and stroke has fallen by more than 80% over the past seven decades.

“We have made progress, but at the same time, we have created a problem with overweight, obesity and diabetes. There are still many modifiable risks, such as hypertension, which affect roughly a third of the adult population. It’s silent, there are no associated symptoms,” raises the D^r Native.

He explains that the patient has the responsibility to take charge of themselves. To measure his blood pressure, he can go to a pharmacy or get a blood pressure monitor.

The D^r Honos points out that one in four Canadians have high cholesterol that could benefit from treatment. “Again, you have to measure it. And it must be measured annually after the age of 40. In a context where a large number of citizens do not have a family doctor, the role of government is being reformulated. [Il doit] find ways so that these patients can at least see a specialized nurse practitioner or a family doctor once a year for their blood test, to review a little the modifiable risk factors,” he pleads.

Heart + Stroke also launched Vérif-Risques last year, an online screening tool to understand risk factors in terms of heart health.

The organization argues that governments, health care providers and individuals themselves can intervene. The report mentions that the government could impose a tax on sugary drinks. Healthcare professionals can talk to and counsel their patients about modifiable risk factors. The D^r Honos states, however, that they are limited if the patient does not have a desire for change.

“The individual must take charge of himself. And then the doctor and health professionals are there to support them, but the person must be motivated to optimize their risk,” he says, taking the example of smoking to illustrate his point. “It is the most difficult of the risk factors to modify. We cannot do it for the patient as a doctor and we cannot do it for someone who is not motivated to change their lifestyle. Once he is ready to take action and wants to quit smoking, we must give him resources to support him. »

The D^r Honos recalls that the fight against smoking is one of the areas where there has been the most progress. In Canada, one in two adults smoked cigarettes in 1965. The smoking rate among adults fell from 19% in 2015 to 11% in 2024.

“Now, nuance the cardiologist, in Canada, there are still a lot of young people who smoke, especially young people who vape. This is a problem because vaping is not as harmful as cigarettes, but there is still nicotine and its dependence. Statistics show that many of these young people will become smokers in the future. That worries us a lot. »

The report indicates that more than six million Canadians are living with heart disease or the after-effects of a stroke. One in five deaths is due to heart disease or stroke, which equates to one life lost every seven minutes.

The Canadian Press’s health coverage is supported by a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. The Canadian Press is solely responsible for this journalistic content.