50 Statistics Related to Cardiovascular Diseases You Must Know

Here are 50 key statistics related to cardiovascular diseases, referenced from the provided reliable sources.

Cardiovascular Disease Burden

1. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally, responsible for 18.6 million deaths in 2019.
2. The global number of prevalent cases of total CVD nearly doubled from 271 million in 1990 to 523 million in 2019.
3. The total number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to ischemic heart disease (IHD) reached 182 million in 2019, with 9.14 million deaths.
4. The total number of DALYs due to stroke reached 143 million in 2019, with 6.55 million deaths.
5. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 928,741 deaths in 2020.
6. Between 2018 and 2019, the direct and indirect costs of total CVD in the US were $407.3 billion.

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors

1. High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking are key risk factors for heart disease in the US.
2. Other risk factors include diabetes, obesity, poor diet, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol use.
3. Behavioral, environmental, and social risk factors are major drivers of CVD globally.
4. In 2019, the leading global risk factors for CVD were high systolic blood pressure, high body mass index, high fasting plasma glucose, and air pollution.
5. Smoking, alcohol use, and diets high in sugar and sodium are behavioral risk factors that heighten CVD risk.

Cardiovascular Disease Disparities

1. Heart disease death rates are higher in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America compared to North America and Western Europe.
2. In the US, heart disease is the leading cause of death for most racial and ethnic groups, but the percentage of deaths varies.
3. In 2021, heart disease caused 22.6% of deaths among non-Hispanic Black Americans, compared to 18.0% among non-Hispanic White Americans.
4. Heart disease is the second leading cause of death for Asian American, American Indian, Alaska Native, and Hispanic women, after cancer.

Cardiovascular Disease Trends

1. Globally, cardiovascular disease death rates have declined in many countries due to improvements in prevention and treatment.
2. However, the total number of CVD deaths has steadily increased from 12.1 million in 1990 to 18.6 million in 2019, largely due to population growth and aging.
3. In the US, cardiovascular deaths saw a steep rise during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
4. Coronary heart disease was the leading cause (41.2%) of CVD deaths in the US in 2020, followed by stroke (17.3%).

Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Treatment

1. Declines in smoking, improvements in screening and diagnosis, and advances in medical treatments have helped reduce the impact of CVDs.
2. Public health initiatives, emergency care, and surgical procedures have also contributed to reducing CVD burden.
3. However, significant global disparities persist, and by enhancing understanding and increasing public health efforts, further reductions in the impact of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) can be achieved.
4. In the US, the CDC is working to address heart disease through surveillance, research, and public health programs.

Citations

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7755038/

[2] https://ourworldindata.org/cardiovascular-diseases

[3]https://professional.heart.org/en/science-news/heart-disease-and-stroke-statistics-2023-update

[4] https://www.cdc.gov/heart-disease/data-research/facts-stats/index.html

[5] https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2022.11.005