Small measures could cut UK heart disease deaths

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Up to 50,000 deaths from heart disease each year in England and Wales could be prevented with even small reductions in smoking, cholesterol and blood pressure, the Health Development Agency said on Monday.

It estimates 25,000 lives could be saved by cutting cholesterol and an additional 17,000 if more people stopped smoking.

"These two measures, along with a small reduction in the population’s blood pressure, would result in 50,000 fewer deaths annually, thereby halving current CHD (coronary heart disease) mortality in Britain,” said Professor Mike Kelly, the agency’s director of evidence and guidance, said in a statement.

The national authority, which aims to improve health, said in a briefing paper that although the risk factors to prevent heart disease are well known and deaths have decreased in recent decades, the numbers could be cut further.

“We could see very rapid benefits. A reduction in smoking, cholesterol and blood pressure will result in fewer deaths within 12-24 months,” added Professor Simon Capewell of the University of Liverpool and a co-author of the paper. 

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