According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year, 735,000 Americans suffer from a heart attack, and approximately 610,000 Americans pass away from some form of heart disease. Unfortunately, heart disease isn’t just rampant in the United States. ReactDx, creators of innovative Holter patch technology, is sharing a new report that reveals cardiovascular disease is the cause of a lot more deaths around the globe than previously thought.
The American College of Cardiology spent 25 years studying heart disease in every country around the world. Over 100 doctors contributed to the findings, which were published by The Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The study showed that the countries with the most reported cardiovascular deaths were Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Not far behind were South America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Oceania.
In the final year of study, there were approximately 422.7 million cases of cardiovascular disease and 17.92 million heart-related deaths. The most common cause of cardiovascular disease was listed as ischemic heart disease with stroke following right behind in second place. It is also interesting to note that there was a noticeable decline over the 25 years in heart disease deaths among high-income countries, however, as of 2015, the decline stopped and hit a plateau.
The lead author of the published study Global and Regional Patterns in Cardiovascular Mortality that took place between 1990 and 2013 is Dr. Gregory Roth. Dr. Roth is the assistant professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at Washington State University. His conclusion and final thoughts on the subject were, “Policies and health interventions will need to be tailored and scaled for a broad range of local conditions to achieve the health goals set by the United Nations for 2025. These goals are a landmark for global health and will serve as important benchmarks for the measurement of future achievements.”
This study fully uncovers the global burden of disease and the importance of investing in the prevention and treatment of heart disease. Physicians can take an active role in preventing cardiovascular disease by monitoring their patients’ heart health using ReactDx’s Holter patch. Doctors can contact ReactDx at 800-234-3278, or visit our News & Updates page for more information.
