HANOI, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Heart diseases kill around 200,000 people in Vietnam each year on average, accounting for one fourth of disease-caused deaths in the country.
The figure was released at a conference held by Vietnam's National Heart Institute (NHI) and the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in capital Hanoi on Wednesday, reported the state-run news agency VNA.
In addition, some 47.3 percent of those aged over 25 years old have high blood pressure.
Speaking at the conference, Do Doan Loi, NHI head said that more young people have gone down with heart diseases in Vietnam due to lifestyles as they are too lazy in physical activities, drink too much alcohols and smoke.
Besides, frequent pressure and stress in life also lead to risk of having heart diseases.
Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien said at the conference that in the past, infection used to be a major cause to claim lives of patients while nowadays, the most intractable problems are heart diseases, cancer, and digestive disorders among others.
According to a research by the NIN, over 44.3 percent of those living in urban areas have risk of high cholesterol in blood due to unreasonable diet. This will lead to increasing heart disease risks including overweight, obesity, atherosclerotic plaque formation and high blood pressure, reported VNA.
