Heart disease is the big killer with the familiar symptoms

Almost 20 per cent of Emiratis have high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, finds study for Dubai Health Authority.

ABU DHABI // Heart disease causes three in every 10 deaths in the UAE, much the same as in the West.

This year, Dubai Health Authority announced the findings of a study it conducted in 2014 involving 3,298 Emirati and expatriate families.

It found that 18.9 per cent of Emiratis suffer from high blood pressure, and 19.1 per cent from high cholesterol.

About 22 per cent of people were smokers and 36.1 per cent were borderline obese, while 11.9 per cent were obese.

Non-communicable diseases are estimated to account for 88 per cent of deaths in the US, with cardiovascular disease accounting for nearly 31 per cent of them. The statistics in the UK are similar.

“One of the things that helps in the UK is that we do have a national cardiovascular health strategy and a national heart failure audit,” said Ed Harding, managing director of the Health Policy Partnership, the British company that wrote the audit for the region.

“It is a significant research effort that is updated annually.

“It’s extremely helpful as it reveals some uncomfortable truths about inequality of access in the UK, mortality and also the difference we see from different modes of treatment. It doesn’t solve all the questions but it helps policymakers.”

Mr Harding said that Europe had a long way to go in terms of governments consistently taking ownership of the heart-disease problem and reflecting that in policy.

Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death around the world, according to the World Heart Federation. It said that one in three deaths globally are as result of heart problems.