RT Book, Section A1 Benziger, Catherine P. A1 Moran, Andrew E. A1 Roth, Gregory A. A2 Fuster, Valentin A2 Harrington, Robert A. A2 Narula, Jagat A2 Eapen, Zubin J. SR Print(0) ID 1161722940 T1 THE GLOBAL BURDEN OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES T2 Hurst's The Heart, 14e YR 2017 FD 2017 PB McGraw-Hill Education PP New York, NY SN 9780071843249 LK accesscardiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1161722940 RD 2024/10/05 AB Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the most common cause of premature death in the world. Although there has been a steady decrease in mortality rates for CVDs beginning in the last third of the 20th century in high-income countries, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have not benefited from this favorable trend. As a result, more than 17 million people died from CVDs in 2013, and as a consequence of the large populations in many LMICs, nearly 70% of CVD deaths occurred in LMICs and 50% were in women. CVDs account for 50% of all noncommunicable disease (NCD) deaths in the world each year, and represent a significant threat to human welfare and sustainable development. CVDs are the leading cause of death in every region of the world, with the exceptions of sub-Saharan Africa—where infectious diseases are still the leading cause of death—and South Korea and Japan, where cancers cause more deaths.