A world without heart problems (CVD) is feasible, but tens of millions of lives die prematurely from heart disease annually, based on a recent special report, Global Burden of Disease (GBD), published today within the journal within the journal of the American College of Cardiology. The report updates health estimates of the worldwide, regional and national burden and trends of CVD from 1990 to 2022 by analyzing the impact of CVD and risk aspects in 21 world regions.

Research conducted on this study reflects the urgent need for countries to determine public health strategies to forestall heart problems by emphasizing the worldwide actions needed to disseminate information and implement health programs, especially in hard-to-reach countries. Although rates of heart problems are high worldwide, the regions of Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East are estimated to have the best rates of mortality from heart problems. Hypertension, high cholesterol, dietary hazards and air pollution remain the primary causes.

Heart problems is an ongoing challenge that results in an enormous variety of preventable premature deaths. There are various inexpensive and effective treatments. We all know what risk aspects we’d like to discover and treat. There are easy, healthy decisions that individuals could make to enhance their health. This atlas provides detailed information on the present status of nations’ efforts to forestall and treat heart problems.”

Gregory A. Roth, MD, MPH, senior writer of the paper and associate professor within the Division of Cardiology and director of the Program on Cardiovascular Health Indicators on the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation on the University of Washington

Mortality rates are broken down by location, together with age, sex and time categories. The report includes disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), years of life lost resulting from premature death (YLL) and years lived with disability (YLD). The outcomes presented include several updates to previously published estimates, reflecting recent data and recent disease modeling methods.

The article specifically discusses 18 cardiovascular diseases and presents estimates of 15 leading heart problems risk aspects: environmental (air pollution, household air pollution, lead exposure, low temperature, extreme temperature), metabolic (systolic blood pressure, LDL-C, body weight, fasting glycemic index, kidney dysfunction) and behavioral (food plan, smoking, passive smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity).

“Three years ago, we formed the Global Burden of Cardiocular Diseases Collaboration to assist bring cutting-edge research to the forefront of the worldwide cardiovascular community,” said Valentin Fuster, M.D., writer of the paper, president of Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital, physician-in-chief of Mount Sinai Hospital and editor-in-chief of JACC. “We’re excited to publish this 2023 Almanac as a stand-alone journal issue to speak the realities of heart problems risk and encourage strategies for a heart-healthy world.”

Crucial conclusions from the report:

• Coronary heart disease stays the leading explanation for global CVD mortality, with an age-standardized rate per 100,000 of 108.8 deaths, followed by intracerebral hemorrhage and ischemic stroke.
• High systolic blood pressure was the most important contributor to attributable age-standardized CVD disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), at 2,564.9 per 100,000 worldwide.
• Dietary risk was the primary driver of age-standardized CVD DALYs amongst behavioral risks, while airborne particulate pollution was the primary environmental risk factor.
• Between 2015 and 2022, age-standardized CVD mortality increased in 27 of 204 locations.
• Global CVD deaths have increased from 12.4 million in 1990 to 19.8 million in 2022, reflecting the expansion and aging of the world’s population and the impact of avoidable metabolic, environmental and behavioral risks.
• Eastern Europe had the best age-standardized overall CVD mortality rate of 553 deaths per 100,000 people. In contrast, Australasian countries had the bottom age-standardized total CVD mortality, at 122.5 deaths per 100,000 people.
• Central Asia, Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East had the best age-standardized mortality rates per 100,000 people attributable to high systolic blood pressure. The regions with the best burden of heart problems attributable to dietary risk are Central Asia, Oceania and parts of North Africa and the Middle East.

“Identifying sustainable ways to work with communities to take motion to forestall and control modifiable risk aspects for heart disease is crucial to reducing the worldwide burden of heart disease,” said George A. Mensah, MD, FACC, FAHA, director of the Research Center and implementing translations on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). “The 2023 Almanac is a crucial resource for leveraging locally relevant data to tell local motion for heart-healthy and thriving communities.”

The Global Burden of Cardiocular Diseases Collaboration, launched in 2020, is an alliance between Journals of the American College of Cardiology, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation on the University of Washington, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The 2023 publication, an update of the 2022 GBD Study, includes data from 204 countries and territories, highlighting the leading global modifiable risk aspects for heart problems, their contribution to the burden of disease, and the newest advances in prevention.