Lifestyle-related diseases, including cardiovascular disease, are now the leading causes of premature death in Arab countries, according to a study published in the Lancet.
More than fast food, it is a fatty and little varied diet that causes childhood obesity, recently recalled American researchers in the January edition of the Journal of Clinical Nutrition. And this way of life from Western countries is now happening in Arab countries. With worrying results in terms of public health and premature mortality. The increase in cardiovascular disease in these countries in recent years is of particular concern to researchers.
Infectious diseases in the lead in 1990
Indeed, in a large international study published Monday in The Lancet, researchers compared the evolution of the state of health of the population in 22 countries of the Arab League in twenty years. In 1990, respiratory infections were the top health concern, and were responsible for 11% of deaths in these countries. Among the other causes of death were also at the top of the rankings perinatal mortality, and diseases related to unhealthy diet. Today, these pathologies are still important in low-income Arab countries such as Comoros, Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia and Yemen. But overall, infectious diseases have declined, with the exception of AIDS (the HIV virus), over the past 20 years.
20 years later, it is cardiovascular disease that kills the most
Conversely, whereas they were in second position in 1990, cardiovascular diseases came clearly in the lead in 2010. They now represent 14.3% of all deaths.
In the rest of this sad list, infectious diseases are now relegated to second place. However, they are always ahead of diarrhea, diabetes, traffic accidents, and cirrhosis of the liver.
Finally, among the other pathologies often responsible for premature death, researchers cite depression, domestic violence and back pain. “All these signs show that this region is undergoing a major epidemiological transition,” the team indicates.
Diseases linked to the westernization of the Arab world
And these scientists go on to say that “the situation looks more and more like that of Western Europe and North America”, where a sedentary lifestyle and an unbalanced diet are real scourges. They also point out that diseases linked to alcohol or drug use are also on the rise in Arab countries.
Finally, at the same time, the researchers point out that these countries have made great progress “especially in terms of reducing infant and maternal mortality. ”
However, caution is in order with these results, as the study was carried out before the outbreak of the “Arab Spring”, they note. “Many of the successes mentioned, they write, may well have disappeared due to the war and shortages in certain health sectors, especially vaccination programs, leading to a new surge in infectious diseases,” the team concludes. .
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