Corporate Magazine 2012 - Boehringer Ingelheim

Cardiovascular diseases (continued)Hypertension and cardiovascular diseaseHypertension, also referred to as high blood pressure, isa chronic disease in which the blood pressure is chronicallyelevated. Hypertension is one of the major risk factorsfor strokes, heart attacks, heart failure and chronicrenal failure.About one billion people worldwide are affected by hypertension.The prevalence of essential hypertension increasessteadily with age. As the world population is ageingand preventive strategies in terms of lifestyle changesare so far failing, the prevalence of hypertension is set toincrease even further.Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascularmorbidity and mortality. The organs at risk are primarilythe heart, the main blood vessels, the brain and the kidneys.The primary goal of any antihypertensive treatmentis to prevent cardiovascular events, such as heartattacks or strokes, and finally to reduce cardiovascularmortality. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is responsiblefor nearly one in three deaths worldwide and is thenumber one cause of death.Venous thrombo-embolismPatients undergoing orthopaedic surgery are at considerablerisk of developing deep vein thrombosis in the legsor a potentially fatal pulmonary embolism. Both are alsoknown as venous thrombo-embolism (VTE). In the longerterm, thrombo-embolic events may recur and chronicvenous insufficiency and/or pulmonary hypertensionmay occur. To prevent VTE events and their consequences,patients should receive some kind of thromboprophylaxis.Atrial fibrillationPatients with atrial fibrillation (AF) are at higher risk ofdeveloping blood clots, which can cause a disablingstroke if the clots travel to the brain. AF is the most commontype of arrhythmia. It is associated with a hypercoagulablestate, which predisposes to stroke and systemicembolism, which can be prevented by effective chronicanticoagulation.Proper control of treatable risk factors and disease arevital for the prevention of cardiovascular events.76Boehringer Ingelheim annual report 2012