Deaths from heart disease in the UK are falling, according to analysis of the latest World Health Organisation figures.
Between 2005 and 2015, the number of UK people dying from heart disease fell from 80 deaths per 100,000 to 46 per 100,000, researchers found.
Nevertheless, it still causes far more deaths in the UK as lung cancer and stroke, the second and third highest causes of death.
The condition is also the leading cause of death across the globe, say the authors of the report, from Imperial College London, UK.
Writing today (5 June) in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes they add that factors such as obesity and diabetes keep the death toll from heart disease higher than it could be.
The team also analysed UK deaths from respiratory conditions (20 per 100,000), liver disease (10 per 100,000), and infectious diseases (5 per 100,000).
First author, Dr Alexandra Nowbar, says: “Much of the decline in heart disease deaths may be due to a fall in the number of people who smoke.
"However, obesity, blood pressure and rates of type 2 diabetes are on the rise, and if we don’t keep tabs on these, and encourage people to follow healthy lifestyles, we could see the trend of falling heart disease deaths reverse in the future.”
Heart disease death rates are lowest in Japan and France (both 20 per 100,000) and highest in Ukraine (325 per 100,000).
Dr Nowbar says: “This suggests the economy of a nation is a major contributor to heart disease risk, and that citizens of poorer countries may have less access to healthcare and public health interventions, which means heart disease deaths remain high.”
Nowbar, A. et al. Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes 5 June 2019
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