Cardiovascular mortality trends in Russia: possible mechanisms

Rusya'da Alkol ve Alkolizm: Politikalar ve Etkileri

“…For the whole Russian Federation, the mortality rate from alcoholic poisonings increased from 1998 to 2004 by 58 % and continued growing 24 . The non-registered alcoholrelated mortality was probably higher due to the habitual post mortem overdiagnosis of cardiovascular diseases in unclear cases 24,26 . Finally, the low quality of alcoholic beverages must have contributed to the enhanced incidence of acute pancreatitis 39 .…”

“…Overdiagnosis of stroke and cardiovascular diseases i.e. unreliability of statistics has been commented previously 26 . Decreasing since 1999 infant and maternal mortality, discussed as evidence of health care improvement 56 , may reflect priorities in the health care policies but is unrelated to the relatively high mortality predominantly in middle-aged men 63 , who are visibly underrepresented among patients in governmental policlinics.…”

“…Reliability of official statistics is also not a matter of course 26 . This improvement should be seen against the background of human rights violations, intimidation and crime against alcoholics aimed among others at appropriation of their flats and houses 28 , which would hardly predispose to a leisure drinking.…”

“…Other factors are not mentioned: availability and adequacy of health care 62 , toxicity of some legally sold alcoholic beverages (discussed above), decline of heavy binge drinking 58 , reliability of statistics 26 etc. Apparently, efficiency of governmental policies has been exaggerated in 53,57 .…”

“…For the period 1993-2001, this figure was estimated to be around 58-59 years 8,24,25 . The causes of the enhanced mortality have been analyzed before: limited availability of modern health care, chronic diseases often left untreated, late detection of malignant tumors 26,27 , toxicity of some legally sold alcoholic beverages, crime against alcoholdepended people resulting in some cases in homelessness and premature death. Some people name it parricide 28 ; certainly, it is a matter of definition, how to name the policies predictably causing enhanced mortality in middle-aged and elderly males.…”