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Deaths from heart disease have become less frequent in Europe
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A team of researchers at Oxford University has found that in more than 10 European countries, the leading cause of death is cancer, not cardiovascular disease, as was previously the case. Today, the quality of medical care for cardiovascular diseases is significantly higher, which is why, scientists believe, mortality from cancer has taken a leading position in European countries.
According to statistics, more than 4 million people die from cardiovascular diseases in Europe every year, but in a number of countries this figure has decreased recently. Doctors note that now more men die from malignant neoplasms than from cardiovascular pathologies. According to the sociological center, in 2011 in France more than 90 thousand people died from cancer, and slightly less than 65 thousand people suffered from problems with the heart and blood vessels. In Great Britain, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Slovenia and other European countries, mortality rates from cancer are also higher than from diseases of the heart and vascular system.
But in Eastern European countries, as well as in countries outside the European Union, mortality from cardiovascular diseases still remains in first place.
At present, the authors of the new study cannot say exactly what influenced the changes in mortality rates in European countries, but, as mentioned at the beginning, experts associate this with an improvement in the quality of medical care for cardiovascular pathologies, the development of new types of therapy, monitoring, as well as measures aimed at the early detection of heart problems.
The work of British scientists indicates that the problem of oncology is becoming more acute, cancer diseases can become a real plague of the 21st century, if urgent measures are not taken. Scientists from different countries conduct research and try to find a cure for cancer tumors, for example, in the UK, research at one of the medical schools of Dartmouth showed that toxoplasms (the simplest intracellular parasites) help the immune system fight malignant cells.
Now many researchers are trying to force the human immune system to fight cancer on its own, but due to the so-called immune tolerance, the immune system does not respond to malignant cells, the tumor progresses and gradually kills the body.
At Dartmouth School of Medicine, scientists have found in rodent tests that some protozoan parasites can affect the immune system, in particular, by speeding it up. Thus, experiments have shown that toxoplasma helps the body fight various types of ovarian cancer - some rodents lived longer, and some completely got rid of the disease, including rodents with fairly large tumors.
This discovery may impact cancer treatment in the future, and scientists have already begun experimenting with other parasites that may help cure other types of cancer, for example, listeria bacteria, scientists believe, may help cure pancreatic cancer.
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