Cardiovascular disease continues to kill more Europeans, especially women, than any other disease.Cardiovascular disease continues to kill more Europeans, especially women, than any other disease.

Women have been urged to look after the health of their hearts as a new report showed that more women than men are killed by cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Europe.

Data from the latest available year showed there were just over four million deaths (1.9 million men and 2.2 million women) from CVD, close to half of all deaths in Europe.

The proportion of all deaths that are attributable to CVD is substantially greater among women (51per cent) than men (42 per cent).

CVD continues to kill more Europeans than any other disease − and in many countries causes twice as many deaths as cancer.

However, the study reported online in the European Heart Journal found there were some countries where cancer was now causing more deaths than heart disease in men − Belgium, Denmark, France, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and San Marino. For the first time, cancer has also overtaken CVD as the main cause of death among women in a European country − Denmark.

One of the authors,Nick Townsend, senior researcher at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Centre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention, said: “The reason why cancer has overtaken cardiovascular disease as the main cause of death in these countries is due to the fact that fewer people develop cardiovascular disease and, in those who do, fewer die from it.

Heart disease kills almost three times as many women as breast cancer

“This is probably due to improvements in the behavioural risk factors associated with CVD, such as decreases in the number of people smoking tobacco, along with better treatments, including preventive ones, such as the increasing use of statins. However, increases in some risk factors, such as rising levels of obesity, suggest that these decreasing trends may be in danger of reversing.

“The proportion of women who die from cardiovascular disease is much greater than men: 51per cent of women died compared to 42 per cent of men.

“This difference is driven mainly by a higher rate of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases among women.

“There was very little difference in the rates of coronary heart disease between men and women: 20 per cent versus 21 per cent respectively.”

Overall, CVD death rates are declining in most, but not all European countries.

Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the BHF and board member of the European Heart Network, reacting to the report, said: “It’s good news that the number of lives being taken too soon by cardiovascular disease is falling across Europe. However, the fact remains that heart disease and stroke remain the biggest cause of death among Europeans.

“Perhaps surprisingly, more women are dying from cardiovascular disease than men. These figures are a stark reminder that women need to be more aware of their heart health as heart disease kills almost three times as many women as breast cancer.”

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