Globally, nine million people die each year from ischemic heart disease. Despite falling rates of heart disease, tackling it is still a stubborn challenge
The pathologies of heart conditions are complex and interwoven, but they often start with ischaemia.
Credit: Mohamed Ashour. Sources: 1. British Heart Foundation Heart & Circulatory Disease Statistics 2020 available at http://go.nature.com/2sjhs7q (2020); 2. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Morbidity & Mortality: 2012 Chart Book on Cardiovascular, Lung and Blood Diseases (NIH, 2012); 3. Bottle, A. et al. Heart104, 600–605 (2018); 4. British Heart Foundation
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The incidence of many heart conditions in wealthy countries is declining. In the United Kingdom, for example, the rates of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial infarction and heart failure have decreased since 2005. The incidence of atrial fibrillation has increased, probably because of an ageing population.
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