A 25 year old study has revealed that high blood pressure and poor diet are the leading cause of death worldwide.
The Global Burden of Disease study which was funded by Bill and Melinda Gates foundation concluded that high blood pressure is the biggest contributor of early death globally and age and family history play a part.
Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IMHE) director Dr Christopher Murray while speaking with UK Guardian said “There’s great potential to improve health by avoiding certain risks like smoking and poor diet as well as tackling environmental risks like air pollution.
“The challenge for policymakers will be to use what we know to guide prevention efforts and health policies.
“The comprehensive assessment of risk factors presented in this study provides a clear indication of where prevention programmes aimed at risk factor modification can have major effects on health.
“The challenge for governments and the health development community more broadly is to heed this knowledge about the comparative effect of health risks more assiduously, and orient health policies towards their mitigation with much greater conviction than that currently observed.”
The study published in the Lancet Medical journal analysed data from 108 countries, and expands the number of risk factors for premature death around the world.
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