Heart Disease: Croats Not Eating Enough Fish, Smoking Too Much

“My heart – My life” is an initiative from the Croatian Cardiology Society, aiming to encourage better prevention of cardiovascular disease in Croatia, as the number of heart disease related deaths is rapidly on the rise in the country, reports Jutarnji list.

A survey with over 700 patients showed that 61 percent of patients have a high risk of dying from cardiovascular disease in the next 10 years, while 39 percent have a low risk, the study revealed.

But both groups have unhealthy habits, say doctors, eating far too little fish and vegetables, not doing enough exercise, and smoking too much. In the patients that were flagged as high risk, 34 percent of patients already had signs of heart disease, and 38 percent had diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol.