Latest CSO data shows almost half of cardiovascular deaths were due to heart disease

More than 9,000 people lost their lives in 2016 to cardiovascular disease with almost half dying from heart disease, the latest figures show.

Cardiovascular disease includes all diseases of the heart and circulation but most commonly it refers to coronary heart disease (angina, heart attack), stroke and other blood vessel diseases. Other conditions include congenital heart disease, heart valve disease and disease of the heart muscle (cardiomyopathy).

According to the Vital Statistics Annual Report 2016 from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which were released earlier this week, there were a total of 9,237 deaths attributed to diseases of the circulatory system or cardiovascular disease in 2016, of which 4,768 were men and 4,469 were women.

More than 73.4 per cent of deaths due to cardiovascular disease occurred in older people or those aged 75 and over.

Of the overall 9,237 deaths from cardiovascular disease, almost half or 48.2 per cent, were due to ischaemic heart disease, accounting for 55.4 per cent of males and 40.4 per cent of females.

Almost a fifth (19.8%) of cardiovascular deaths were due to cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke, accounting for 16.2 per cent of males and 23.6 per cent of females. Acute myocardial infarction or heart attack accounted for 1,847 of the 4,449 ischaemic heart disease deaths.

The CSO data showed that North Tipperary recorded the highest age-standardised death rate for cardiovascular disease at 2.64 per 1,000 of population, while Galway City recorded the lowest at 1.40 per 1,000 of population.

Overall the Vital Statistics Report for 2016 revealed that there were 30,667 deaths in Ireland in 2016, of which 15,620 were male and 15,047 female.

According to the Vital Statistics Report for 2016, the number of people dying from cardiovascular disease is slowly decreasing. For example, in 2006 there were such 9,980 deaths compared to 9,237 in 2016.

There has been a long period of decline in mortality attributable to heart disease and stroke, however, there are worrying signs that increasing levels of obesity, diabetes and low levels of physical activity have the potential to jeopardise the gains of recent years.

Almost a third of Irish children are now overweight and in 2016 nine per cent of girls and 10 per cent of boys in Ireland were classed as obese.

Smoking and alcohol consumption in young people and increasing levels of childhood obesity, particularly in disadvantaged communities, are also significant challenges.