Biomedicine

The Skeptik 2013;3:117-122

Ginter E

Slovak Medical University, emeritus, Bratislava, Slovakia

Summary
According to the American Heart Association, obesity is associated with numerous comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD), type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Obesity is associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality as well as reduced life expectancy. On the other hand, there is a place for skepticism. How is it possible that in USA, beside rapid increase in obesity prevalence, cardiovascular mortality has decreased, and the life expectancy has increased by almost 5 years during the period of the past 20 years? Obese patient are more likely to survive a heart attack at year one than are patients with a normal body weight. The aim of this paper is to solve these paradoxes.

publikované Slovenskou spoločnosťou skeptikov

The Skeptik 2013;3:97-116

Ginter E¹, Simko V², Sedláková D³

¹ Slovak Medical University, emeritus, Slovakia
² State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center at Brooklyn, USA
³ The WHO Head of Country Office, Slovakia

Summary
Life expectancy and cause-specific mortality are the most fundamental metrics of population health. From 1970 to 2010, the global life expectancy at birth increased in males from 56·4 years to 67·5 years and in females from 61·2 years to 73·3 years. Population growth resulted in an increase in the average age of the world’s population. Decreasing age-specific, sex-specific and cause-specific death rates have combined to drive a broad shift from communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional causes towards non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular disorders and cancer. In Europe specifically, there has been a very significant decrease of premature (age 0-64 years) cardiovascular mortality, but only a small decrease of premature cancer mortality. Consequently, in most European countries, with exception of the post-Soviet region, cancer is the most prominent premature killer. The mortality trends in the Slovak and Czech Republic balance between values of democratic countries with good indicators and the postcommunist regions with poorer values.

Key words: life expectancy at birth, premature mortality, global world health, Europe, Slovakia, Czech Republic, communicable and non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular mortality, cancer mortality

publikované Slovenskou spoločnosťou skeptikov

The Skeptik 2013;3:91-96

Ginter E

Slovak Medical University, emeritus, Bratislava, Slovakia

Abstract
From 1970 to 2010, the global life expectancy at birth increased in males from 56 years to 68 years and in females from 61 years to 73 years. Decreasing age-specific and cause-specific death rates have combined to drive a broad shift from communicable and nutritional causes towards non-communicable diseases - heart disease and cancer. The claim „heart disease still remains number one killer worldwide“ is perpetraded in numerous popular articles. The recent data and this paper throw skeptic look on this statement.

Key words: life expectancy at birth, global world health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, heart disease and cancer mortality

publikované Slovenskou spoločnosťou skeptikov