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# Cardiovascular disease burden in Europe is similar by sex but differs in composition
- URL: https://www.coios.me/cardiovascular-disease-burden-in-europe-is-similar-by-sex/
- Published: 2026-10-25T11:59:48.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-26T07:06:26.000Z
- Description: In 2023 women had 55% of cardiovascular cases and 50% of deaths, but less ischaemic heart disease.
- Author: Daniel Ryan
- Tags: Health today, Heart and stroke, Revisions and new sources, European Union, #peer-reviewed, #refines, #item, #source-2026-10, #score-74

Cardiovascular estimates from Global Burden of Disease 2023 were compared by sex across 55 European Society of Cardiology countries. In 2023 women had 55% of cases and 50% of deaths, but less ischaemic heart disease (21% vs 38%). Tobacco and alcohol exposure was 10–20 points higher in men; high body mass index and low activity higher in women. Between-country gaps were wider in women: about three-fold in incidence versus two-fold in men, and up to 25-fold in mortality. Maternal hypertensive disorders made up 25% of incident disease in women, with up to 18-fold incidence differences across countries. The supplied abstract is truncated and states no limitation.

*Why it is interesting: Similar totals by sex hide different disease mixes and risk exposures. Maternal hypertensive disorders alone account for a quarter of incident cardiovascular disease in women across the region.*

Source

[European Heart Journal, 23 October 2026](https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehag782?ref=coios.me)

Paper

Sex differences in cardiovascular disease burden, risk factors, and disease spectrum in Europe: a global burden of disease 2023 analysis within the ESC Atlas framework

Authors

Conrad N, Torbica A, Wood AM, Townsend N, Van Belle E, Kaplon-Cieslicka A et al.

DOI

10.1093/eurheartj/ehag782

Type

Peer-reviewed article

Design

Cross-national descriptive analysis of GBD 2023 modelled estimates, 55 ESC member countries, age-sex-standardized rates, 1990-2023

Verdict

Refines prior evidence

Driver

[Heart and stroke](https://www.coios.me/d-cardiovascular/)

Driver

[Revisions and new sources](https://www.coios.me/d-data-sources/)

Free full text

[Free to read at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehag782?ref=coios.me)