It is through a shock campaign that the Belgian Cardiological League (LCB) has chosen this year to draw attention to a silent killer which causes some 23,000 deaths in our country each year: atherosclerosis. In letters cut out of a newspaper, crow style, the League will broadcast in the streets and on social media from today and during the month of June threatening messages such as: “Do not minimize the danger that I am”, “ Will you be the next victim on my list?” or even “You don’t see me, yet I am here”.
If the League has chosen to strike hard this year, it is because it believes that it is “urgently to put an end to the considerable number of deaths linked to atherosclerosis, which results in a thickening of the walls of the arteries and a narrowing of the blood vessels”. At the same time, cardiologists therefore request, for people over 50, screening every five years for cardiovascular risk factors leading to atherosclerosis, namely diabetes, high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, Obesity, sedentary lifestyle… So many factors which play a determining role in the development of cardiovascular diseases, as well as in the development of atherosclerosis.
Campaign against a silent killer who claims more than 23,000 victims each year in Belgium
”We cannot continue to ignore it: 23,000 deaths per year are more than the number of deaths during the peak coronavirus year of 2020underlines the Director General of the LCB, Rik Vanhoof. We deliberately call atherosclerosis the ‘silent killer’: you can suffer from it unknowingly for years, without even noticing it, because there are virtually no symptoms. Until suddenly it’s too late and disaster strikes. This is precisely why screening for cardiovascular risk factors and preventing them is so important. Indeed, if we detect them early enough, we can considerably reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke. The message we are sending to the new Minister of Health is therefore clear: immediately implement five-yearly screening for people over 50. And make sure it’s free. The budget that the government will have to release for prevention will be doubly recovered. Indeed, atherosclerosis currently costs our health system five billion euros per year”.
“After a long physical effort, Benjamin collapsed in the hospital, and fortunately…”
Today, it is estimated that at least 750,000 Belgians suffer from atherosclerosis. In 2020, a record year, Belgium recorded just under 20,000 deaths due to coronary heart disease. Atherosclerosis, with 23,000 deaths per year, therefore causes even more deaths each year. “The fact that fast food has been growing like weeds in our country for years, while healthy alternatives are not following as quickly, obviously doesn’t help matters. We need to encourage the latter more, which is also a task for public authorities,” estimated Rik Vanhoof, who also draws attention to the importance of helping people quit smoking. For the League, a multidisciplinary consultation, combined with targeted monitoring of cardiovascular risk factors, is crucial.
he small gesture of daily life that reduces the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by almost 40%
In the meantime, the Belgian Cardiological League invites people considered “at high risk” not to wait for screening to be implemented and to go to their GP every year for a preventive examination. In addition to people over 50 and smokers, these include other people with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, such as diabetics or overweight people.
