A new report from the American Heart Association and World Heart Federation suggest deaths related to heart disease and stroke could be reduced around the world by focusing healthcare efforts on four risk factors — tobacco use, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
The authors of the report based their forecast on data from more than 180 countries. The data was collected as part of Global Burden of Disease study led by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle. According to cardiologist Gregory Roth, MD, an assistant professor at the institute, the study was used to create "the biggest database of health on the planet."
Highlighted below are five findings derived from analysis of the data.
1. In nations do not intervene, more than 5 million men and 2.8 million women will die prematurely each year from cardiovascular disease by 2025.
2. With absolutely no interventions through 2025, premature deaths would rise 34 percent in men and 30 percent in women.
3. If the World Health Organization goals to reduce premature cardiovascular deaths by 25 percent by 2025 were met, mortality would decrease 5 percent in men and increase by only 1 percent in women.
4. Although tackling any of the four risk factors could change the trajectory of global cardiovascular mortality, reducing smoking and obesity and lowering blood pressure would have the biggest effects.
5. Forecasts vary depending on the country. For instance, if the WHO goals were met, premature deaths from heart disease and stroke would drop by 2025 in Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the U.S and Western Europe — 19 percent in men and 16 percent in women. Meanwhile, premature cardiovascular disease deaths are expected to increase by 56 percent in South Asian men and 48 percent in sub-Saharan African women.
"Even in countries with very little data, we know something," said Dr. Roth. "It's not completely unknown, it's just in a very wide range."
The authors of the report encourage nations to use data to try to tackle risk factors and contain the worldwide burden of heart disease and stroke.
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