With more than 4 million deaths per year, cardiovascular diseases remain the main cause of death in Europe. And women are more likely to die from it than men.
Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in Europe, with more than 4 million deaths per year, twice as many as cancers, according to Works published this Wednesday in the European Heart Journal. More specifically, coronary heart disease is the deadliest, with 19% of men and 20% of women dying from it each year.
In addition, by analyzing the latest data available from 53 European member states of the World Health Organization (WHO), the researchers once again noted significant disparities between the countries of Europe.
In fact, data now indicates that cardiovascular disease causes fewer deaths than cancers in men in 13 countries including France, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. And only two countries, Denmark and Israel, present the same situation for women.
Eastern Europe severely affected
In addition, while deaths from cardiovascular disease are declining in most European countries, the vast majority of deaths occur in Eastern Europe. In fact, only 8 European countries (1) have a mortality rate of less than 250 women out of 100,000 compared to more than 1,000 women out of 100,000 in Macedonia, Ukraine or Moldova.
Similar results were found in men. In France, Israel and Spain, less than 300 in 100,000 men die each year from cardiovascular disease, while this causes the death of more than 1,500 in 100,000 men in Ukraine and Turkmenistan, for whom The most recent data are from 1998. But these disparities are also visible according to age. Before age 65 and 75, men and women are more likely to die prematurely in eastern Europe than in the rest of the region.
Credit: Screenshot of Figure 2, “Cardiovascular disease in Europe – epidemiological update 2015”, European Heart Journal.
Figure A shows death rates for men across Europe, and Figure B for women.
Women, the first victims
The study shows that overall women are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than men in Europe. Indeed, before age 75 as many women (36%) as men die of cardiovascular disease while before age 65 they are 26% to die against 30% of men.
For Dr Nick Townsend, author of this work and researcher at the University of Oxford (Great Britain), these statistics illustrate the harsh reality of the burden that cardiovascular disease places on Europe, and in particular on women. . “Cardiovascular disease causes 49% of deaths in women and 41% in men.
To put these data in context, coronary heart disease kills 20% of European women each year while breast cancer kills 2%, he says. Obviously, we need to continue to raise awareness among women about breast cancer and step up efforts to diagnose and treat it, but we also need to recognize the impact of cardiovascular disease on women’s health in Europe. I think many people will be surprised to learn how many women die from it each year, compared to other conditions. “
Over 30 billion euros spent
In their conclusions, the authors also point out that the burden of cardiovascular disease is reflected not only in the number of deaths, but also in the increasing number of hospitalizations, surgeries and prescriptions of drugs. A source of colossal expenses for health insurance.
In 2011, the invoice amounted to more than 30 billion euros – one part devoted to care directly linked to cardiovascular pathologies, and the other to the management of risk factors such as diabetes – against less than 15 billion for cancer .
And these expenses worry experts, especially since the data show that the risk factors of obesity and diabetes are on the rise in Europe and in less developed countries, which could lead to the reversal of this favorable trend. .
(1) France, Israel, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland and Great Britain.
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