The number of Norwegians suffering fatal heart attacks has fallen by as much as 90 percent since peaking in the 1970s. Researchers point to declines in cholesterol, blood pressure and smokers, along with better treatment.
Even though Norwegians are heavier on average than in earlier years, cholesterol levels alone sunk by 20 percent from 1980 to 2015, reports the state public health institure FHI (Folkehelseinstitutt). FHI also reports a “major” decline in average blood pressure levels, and while 65 percent of Norwegians smoked in 1960, only 8 percent do now.
“What’s really had an effect is that so many have a better lifestyle now,” Dr. Kaare Harald Bønaa of the cardiology unit at St Olavs Hospital in Trondheim told newspaper Aftenposten. “When the risk of illness (like heart attacks) is lowered throughout the entire population, the effect is much greater.”
NewsinEnglish.no staff
