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Living in the city is not as unhealthy as previously thought
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
It is generally accepted that fresh air is good for heart patients and that people with coronary heart disease are better off living in rural areas. At the Women's College, specialists analyzed data from about 40 thousand patients with coronary heart disease, including both city dwellers and rural residents.
Researchers believed that poor quality of health care in rural areas contributed to high mortality and the development of various complications, but in fact this turned out to be not the case.
After discharge, the health of patients in both the city and the village was approximately the same. In villages, patients usually undergo treatment in the emergency department, where some specialists or special equipment are simply not available. However, the health of rural residents after treatment was practically no different from the health of patients in city clinics, which are equipped with everything necessary.
Every year, about four million people die from heart disease. In some countries, the death rate from heart disease is almost on the same level as the death rate from cancer. The promotion of a healthy lifestyle and the fight against smoking, which are being carried out in some countries, have significantly improved people's health, in particular, strengthened the cardiovascular system and reduced the incidence and mortality from this pathology.
In addition, in one of the latest studies, specialists have found that vitamin D deficiency in the body can pose an immediate danger to the lives of heart patients, since in this case, in the event of sudden cardiac arrest, even if all necessary resuscitation measures are carried out, the risk of death or various disorders of the brain is at a high level.
The norm for vitamin D in the body is considered to be 30-73 nanograms per 1 ml of blood. With a lack of this vitamin in the blood, the indicators fluctuate from 10 to 30 nanograms.
A decrease in vitamin D levels can occur due to poor nutrition, impaired absorption of food in the intestines, kidney or liver disease, and also if a person is not exposed to the sun.
With a vitamin D deficiency, the risk of death from cancer and schizophrenia increases, and now scientists can add the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases to this list. Having analyzed the level of vitamin D and the health of more than 50 patients who survived cardiac arrest, specialists found that about six months after discharge, serious neurological problems began among patients with low vitamin D levels (approximately 65%), while in the group with normal vitamin levels, pathology developed only in 23% of patients. Among all patients with low vitamin levels, 29% died within six months after discharge from the hospital.
Overall, the risk of brain dysfunction increased sevenfold due to a lack of vitamin D in the body.
The scientists' immediate plans include finding out whether the vitamin supplement can reduce the risk of death and brain damage in patients with cardiovascular disease and low vitamin D levels.
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