The last of the 'cavern': Catalonia, land of heart attacks

It made my heart leap, and I swear it doesn't suit me, when I read the headline of The reason which says "Living in Catalonia, a cardiovascular risk factor because drugs are not prescribed." As someone who has heart disease and who has a second breakfast of six pills every day (up from eight), I couldn't help but exclaim: Damn, lucky they don't prescribe drugs! The topic is actually interesting: various relevant medical sources explain that the criteria for deciding on medication plans are stricter here than in other regions, which results in a limitation on the part of Catalan cardiologists when it comes to designing more personalized treatments.

But the article goes down the drain due to a sensationalist headline, which only seeks to spread bad cholesterol over the suffering arteries of Catalonia. Nowhere does it justify or measure the potential risk being discussed. Nor does it include even a single source so that those who established these criteria can explain their meaning. In other words, we neither know the reason for the differentiated policy, nor are we given any tools to evaluate its results. In fact, according to a 2020 news article on the Spanish Heart Foundation website, Catalonia is below average in cardiovascular mortality. Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Murcia, the Valencian Community, Extremadura, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, La Rioja, Galicia, Aragon, and Castilla-La Mancha recorded more deaths per 100,000 inhabitants from acute myocardial infarction than our corner of the bull's hide. But I have no evidence that The reason has made front-page news in these communities. I'm lucky because of amlodipine, which keeps my blood pressure down, allowing me to read the material needed to write this column without getting a heart attack.