Diseases of the circulatory system are the leading cause of death in Turkey in 2018 with 162,000 deaths, according to statistics

The diseases of the circulatory system killed 162,000 people in Turkey last year, making it the leading cause of death, official statistics revealed on Friday.

In Turkey, more than 421,000 people died in 2018, and about 38.4% of these deaths were due to diseases of the circulatory system, said the Turkish Institute of Statistics (TurkStat).

Tumors and diseases of the respiratory system followed with respectively 19.7% and 12.5%, noted TurkStat.

The institute said that deaths from circulatory system diseases in 2018 were due to coronary heart disease, also called ischemic heart disease – a heart problem caused by narrowing of the heart arteries resulting in less blood and blood pressure. oxygen to reach the heart muscle – equivalent amount 39.7% of deaths and cerebrovascular diseases – sudden onset of non-occlusive focal neurological deficit, interrupting blood flow and resulting in cell death – to 22.4%.

"The total number of deaths from malignant neoplasms was 81,129 in 2018. 30.8% of these deaths were due to malignant neoplasms of the larynx and trachea, bronchus or lungs". he declared.

In 2018, men accounted for 54.3% (228,887) of all deaths in Turkey.

"As the causes of death were divided into age groups, it was found that circulatory system diseases were observed mainly in the 75 to 84 age group, with 51 376 people, "said TurkStat.

"Benign and malignant tumors were observed mainly in the 65 to 74 age group, with 23,674 people in 2018," he added.

According to the institute, other common causes of death were diseases of the nervous system and sensory organs (4.9%), endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases (4.8%) and external causes of injury and poisoning (4.4%) in 2018.

TurkStat publishes once a year statistics on the causes of death, essential to the evaluation of public health, in accordance with the rules of the World Health Organization. The next report should be published in April 2020.

Some experts say that the increase in the rate of cardiovascular disease is linked to the rapid aging of the country's population and that these diseases would be more prevalent in the near future due to an increase in the expectation of life and cases of diabetes.

Quitting smoking, reducing alcohol consumption, exercising more, and eating more fruits and vegetables are essential to preventing circulatory system diseases.