Cardiovascular disease mortality increased by 46%: main reasons

Over the last three decades, the number of deaths from cardiovascular diseases has sharply increased worldwide. According to a report from the American College of Cardiology, prepared as part of the Global Burden of Disease project, mortality from CVD has risen by 46% – from 13.1 million cases in 1990 to 19.2 million in recent years. This was reported by 'Glavkom' referencing TCTMD.com.

As a result, cardiovascular diseases have become responsible for about 30% of all annual deaths on the planet.

Reasons for the rise in mortality

An international group of researchers that studied the statistics of 375 cardiovascular diseases in 204 UN member countries identified several key reasons for this alarming trend:

• Aging population of the planet: The rapid growth of the elderly population contributes to the development of cardiological problems.
• Hypertension and poor nutrition: An increase in cases of hypertension in developing countries and careless attitudes towards nutrition significantly raise the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
• Air pollution: Every year, about 4 million deaths are attributed to air pollution, especially in Oceania.
• Lead pollution: One of the reasons for the rise in cardiovascular diseases is environmental pollution with lead compounds, particularly relevant for countries in Central Asia and North Africa.

The GBD report emphasizes the deep inequality in healthcare: the mortality rate from CVD between the most and least developed countries of the world is 14 times higher. This highlights the need for global coordinated action to eliminate inequalities and combat major risk factors.

Earlier, an international team of researchers found that one already approved drug could stabilize almost all mutated forms of human protein, regardless of the mutation site. This discovery concerns the vasopressin receptor V2 (V2R), which is necessary for normal kidney function. One of the problems that disrupts its structure is a rare disease – nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, characterized by intense thirst and the excretion of large volumes of dilute urine.

In recent decades, mortality from cardiovascular diseases has significantly risen due to a number of factors, including population aging, rising hypertension, and nutrition issues. The inequality in mortality rates indicates the need for global measures to improve the situation in this area.