Millions of lives continue to be lost prematurely to heart disease each year, according to a new special report published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

As found, the global number of deaths due to cardiovascular disease increased from 12.4 million in 1990 to 19.8 million in 2022.

The report provides an update on health estimates of global, regional and national trends in CVD from 1990 to 2022, analyzing the impact of CVD and risk factors in 21 global regions.

Mortality from cardiovascular disease increased in 27 out of 204 locations in the period 2015-2022. The global number of deaths due to cardiovascular disease increased from 12.4 million in 1990 to 19.8 million in 2022.

Mortality rates are broken down by location, along with age and gender categories. 18 cardiovascular diseases and 15 main cardiovascular disease risk factors are analyzed: environmental (air pollution, household air pollution, lead exposure, low or high temperature), metabolic (systolic blood pressure, body mass index, fasting plasma glucose, renal dysfunction, LDL cholesterol) and behavioral (diet, smoking, passive smoking, alcohol, physical activity).

As mentioned, while rates of cardiovascular disease are high worldwide, regions of Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East were estimated to have the highest death rate from cardiovascular diseases. Eastern Europe has the highest mortality due to cardiovascular disease with 553 deaths per 100,000 people. In contrast, the countries of Australasia had the lowest mortality from cardiovascular disease with 122.5 deaths per 100,000 people.

As the report concludes, ischemic heart disease remains the leading cause of mortality from cardiovascular disease worldwide with 108.8 deaths per 100,000 people. This is followed by intracerebral hemorrhage and ischemic stroke.

High blood pressure, high cholesterol, dietary hazards and air pollution remain the leading causes of mortality from cardiovascular disease. The regions with the highest rates of cardiovascular disease burden attributable to dietary risk were central Asia, Oceania, and parts of northern Africa and the Middle East. Central Asia, eastern Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East had the highest death rate per 100,000 people attributable to high systolic blood pressure.

The study, a collaboration between the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, points out that a world without cardiovascular disease is possible and underlines the urgent need for countries to adopt public health strategies with the aim of preventing cardiovascular diseases, but also the need for global action to spread information and implement health programs, especially in countries with difficult access.