Coronary heart disease is leading cause of avoidable deaths

British Heart Foundation: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading single cause of avoidable death, according to the latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics. There were nearly 20,000 avoidable deaths from CHD in 2013, nearly a fifth (17%) of all avoidable deaths in England and Wales. Deaths are considered avoidable through good quality healthcare or wider public health interventions, such as changes to lifestyle. Figures reveal that CHD was the most common cause of avoidable deaths for males.

CHD accounted for 15,078 (22%) of avoidable male deaths and 4,873 (11%) of avoidable female deaths.
Men are more likely to die from a potentially avoidable cause than women, according to the statistics.
CHD is responsible for around 73,000 deaths in the UK every year and 2.3 million people are living with the condition.

Thousands still dying needlessly

Doireann Maddock, our Senior Cardiac Nurse, said: “These figures show that thousands of people are still dying needlessly from coronary heart disease, the leading cause of avoidable deaths.
“While we’ve made great progress over the last decade to significantly reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease, the number of people living with this condition continues to rise.
“As well as funding world-class research to help save the lives of heart patients we need to empower individuals to make healthier choices.
“Following a healthy diet, keeping physically active, stopping smoking and maintaining healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels can all help reduce your chance of developing heart disease.”
Find out more about our research here.