Resumen

OCHOA MONTES, Luis Alberto. Social exclusion and sudden cardiac death. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2010, vol.36, n.3, pp. 266-270. ISSN 1561-3127.

In the so-called first world countries, 350 000 to 400 000 people die suddenly from heart and blood vessel diseases, according to official data. This means 1000 sudden deaths every day. The health situation in 31 out of the 35 countries in the American continent, where heart diseases are the first cause of death, is not very far from the situation in the United States and the Western nations since this is generally a growing problem. There are some medical factors that should be taken into account when analyzing the behaviour of this phenomenon in each country, but there are also political factors that must be approached to accomplish favourable results in the reduction of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases and of sudden cardiac mortality. The linking of social exclusion and cardiovascular disease is deeply studied. The answer to the question of whether the social exclusion presently plays a determining role in the high incidence of sudden cardiac death or not can only be found in the economic, political and social system existing in the nations. The globalization of the medical care opportunities by including rather than excluding those who have a little or nothing at all - giving everybody access to the new technologies in the medical field - is the means to face the challenge of the rise of cardiovascular pandemic in the 21st century, and hence, of the sudden death.

Palabras clave : Sudden cardiac death; social exclusion; cardiovascular disease; atherosclerosis.

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