Cardiology staff at their own congress took less treatment than the public they advise
Healthcare professionals attending the 2025 ESC Congress went through a cardiovascular health check set against matched controls from the general population. Unrecognised high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes matched the general-population rates, yet in primary prevention 27.6 per cent were on blood-pressure-lowering medication against 46.5 per cent of controls. In a cohort of women who had gestational diabetes, medium walkability neighbourhoods tracked a 15 per cent lower type 2 diabetes rate than low walkability areas, and only in affluent neighbourhoods.
Science··Morning
Unrecognised risk in congress staff matched the public
At the 2025 ESC Congress more than 1,300 healthcare professionals went through a cardiovascular health check, and their results were set beside the rates reported for the general population. Excess body weight was found in 46.8 per cent, hypertension in 23.2 per cent and high cholesterol in 22.7 per cent, while subclinical atherosclerosis, at about 20 per cent, stayed below the general-population rate. Rates of unrecognised high cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes matched the rates reported for the general population.[1]
Primary prevention drug use sat at 27.6 per cent against 46.5 per cent
The difference was seen at treatment. In primary prevention 27.6 per cent of the professionals were on blood-pressure-lowering medication against 46.5 per cent of controls, and 60.0 per cent were on glucose-lowering medication against 85.0 per cent. In secondary prevention 41.4 per cent were taking lipid-lowering therapy and 9.2 per cent an antiplatelet drug despite a guideline indication, and 22.2 per cent reached the LDL cholesterol target. Florian A. Wenzl presented the work, which appeared in the European Heart Journal. The announcement states no limitation.[1]
Walkability tracked 15 per cent less diabetes only in affluent areas
A retrospective cohort at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health followed women who had gestational diabetes and gave birth between 2009 and 2011, through 2021. Over 12 years 21 per cent developed type 2 diabetes. Women living in medium-walkability neighbourhoods had a 15 per cent lower rate than those in low-walkability areas. High walkability tracked a lower rate only in affluent neighbourhoods, and the association varied with neighbourhood economic conditions and Medicaid coverage. The design is observational and reports an association. The authors write that in poorer settings those neighbourhoods also had greater exposure to pollution and heavy traffic, limited green space, safety concerns and reduced access to health-promoting resources.[2]
