Short answers, pulled from the story.
Cardiovascular disease is any condition that involves the heart or blood vessels. This broad category includes coronary artery diseases such as angina and heart attacks, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.
In 2015 cardiovascular diseases resulted in 17.9 million deaths globally. This figure represented 32.1% of all deaths worldwide. Over 80% of all global deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
Dietary risk factors are associated with 53% of cardiovascular disease deaths while high blood pressure accounts for approximately 13% of these deaths. Tobacco use contributes to about 9% of cases and diabetes mellitus explains 6% while lack of exercise also accounts for 6%. Obesity is responsible for 5% of the total mortality burden.
Up to ninety percent of cardiovascular disease may be preventable if established risk factors are avoided. Maintaining a healthy diet such as the Mediterranean diet reduces risk significantly and replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated vegetable oil reduced cardiovascular disease by thirty percent in clinical trials. Stopping smoking and avoiding second-hand smoke reduces risk by about thirty-five percent.
Blood pressure medication reduces cardiovascular disease in people at risk regardless of age or baseline levels. Statins are effective in preventing further cardiovascular disease in those with a history of the condition and United States guidelines recommend statins for individuals with twelve percent or greater risk over ten years. Anti-diabetic medication may reduce cardiovascular risk in type two diabetes patients though evidence remains inconclusive.