Health status of Germans worsened

Health Barometer 2011 registers a deterioration in health

29/06/2011

The health status of the population in Germany has deteriorated significantly over the past ten years. The pharmacy co-operation Vivesco presented on Tuesday in Berlin the health barometer 2011, which registers a clear increase both in the range of the mental illnesses as well as with suffering such as diabetes, obesity (obesity) and elevated cholesterol values.

The 2011 health barometer of Vivesco Apotheken-Partner GmbH, a cooperation of about 1,100 pharmacies throughout Germany and subsidiary of the pharmaceutical wholesaler Andreae-Noris Zahn AG (ANZAG) comes to the conclusion that the health is based on the evaluation of pharmacist surveys and drug sales the Germans has deteriorated significantly in recent years. Also for the next ten years, the statements of pharmacists suggest a further increase in the diseases.

Significant increase in depression, diabetes and obesity
In the 2011 Health Barometer surveys, the 444 pharmacists surveyed stated that a large proportion of the queried illnesses had increased significantly. 97 percent of the pharmacists said that the incidence of depression had increased noticeably, 76 percent of the respondents even called the increase as a significant increase. In addition, 67 percent of respondents said that obesity is much more common today than it was ten years ago. 63 percent of pharmacists said this also applies to diabetes and 88 percent saw similar problems with elevated cholesterol levels. In diseases such as osteoporosis or heartburn, however, only 40 percent of the surveyed pharmacists were convinced that they have increased. On the whole, however, the opinion of pharmacists is a cause for concern, especially as a renewed significant increase in most of the queried diseases is forecast for the next ten years.

Health awareness of Germans has improved
In the 2011 Health Barometer surveys, pharmacists were asked to rate the development of so-called common diseases on a scale over the past ten years. Subsequently, the Freiburg economist Professor Dr. Bernd Raffelhüschen the results of the pharmacist survey. The expert not only noted a significant increase in most illnesses in recent years, but Raffelhüschen drew a gloomy picture on the basis of pharmacist information for the coming years. However, the health barometer also presented a pleasing result: significantly more than half of the pharmacists surveyed noticed a growing health awareness among patients. (Fp)

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