Eight Contributing Factors to Increasing Heart Disease Incidence in Some Global Regions

Despite the incidence of stroke and ischemic heart disease declining globally, some regions have increasing rates of ischemic heart disease, including East and West Sub-Saharan Africa, East and Central Asia, and Oceania.

The research group, led by Wanghong Xu, hypothesize that the rise in ischemic heart disease rates in these regions may be attributed to factors including diet, high body mass index (BMI), and household air pollution. The results were published in PLOS Global Public Health.

The group analyzed global data from 1990 to 2019 from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 resource for incidence of ischemic heart disease and stroke as well as for exposure to 87 potential attributable factors.

Over three decades, ischemic heart disease reduced from 316 to 262 per 100,000 people and stroke declined from 181 to 151 per 100,000. The increases of ischemic heart disease seen in some regions may be associated with the shifting distribution of eight factors:

• Diet high in trans-fatty acids
• Diet low in calcium
• High BMI
• Household air pollution from solid fuels
• Nonexclusive breastfeeding
• Occupational ergonomic factors
• Vitamin A deficiency
• Occupational exposure to particulate matter, gases and fumes, which were determined by the World Bank income levels

“The results indicate the contributions of altered exposures to the eight factors in the discrepant trends of IHD and stroke across regions and countries, and suggest the determinant role of socioeconomic development in covariant of the risk factors with the incidences of IHD and stroke,” the researchers noted.