Also, it appears that, proportionally, men are faring better. Heart disease rates for women are receding more slowly and the increasing numbers of daily smokers in many countries do not augur well for the future. Looking into other well-established risk factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels and obesity, the scientists found that in most populations blood pressure is coming down. The reductions in the smoking patterns are not uniform. There are differences by sex and age group in a number of countries.
Cholesterol levels are still too high practically in all populations.
Having analyzed the available data for the last decade, the researchers concluded that cholesterol levels remain today as high as they were ten years ago. The only noticeable exception is China where the cholesterol levels are either low or within the prescribed norm. Obesity was confirmed in the report as a major risk factor. In most populations investigators found significant increases in the number of overweight men and women. Over the years, the project generated an enormous amount of high quality data which helps us to understand better the relationship between trends in cardiovascular disease and major risk factors.