Press office

The Press Office is here to help all journalists looking for information and comment about cholesterol and inherited lipid conditions, HEART UK campaigns, our inspirational fundraisers and helpline services.

Our media team can put you in touch with our spokespeople or provide comment on a range of heart health issues including our campaigns for better diagnosis and standards of care, cholesterol reduction, diet, familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) affecting people in the UK.

We can also comment on breaking research from around the world as well as provide key facts and figures to support stories.

Our case study database contains people from across the UK who are happy to share their stories with the media.

Media Contacts

Call us on 01628 777046 or email us on [email protected]

*Note this page is in the process of being updated*

Facts and figures

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the umbrella term to describe heart and circulatory diseases including coronary heart disease, stroke, vascular dementia and peripheral arterial disease

CVD

Over 7.6 million people are living with CVD in the UK (over 4 million males and over 3.6million females). It is estimated that more than half of people living in the UK will get a heart or circulatory condition

CVD accounts for one quarter (26%) of all deaths in the UK

80% of people with CVD have at least one other health condition

Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

CHD is one of the leading causes of death in the UK, and the most common cause of premature death. It is the biggest male killer in the UK
Every 8 minutes someone dies from CHD in the UK (180 people a day)
1 in 8 men and 1 in 14 women die from CHD
66,000 people die from CHD each year, with 25,000 under the age of 75
Death rates from CHD are the highest in Scotland and Northern England
There are 2.3 million people in the UK living with CHD, of which 830,000 are women
CHD kills more than twice as many women in the UK as breast cancer

Stroke

Stroke is one of the biggest killers in the UK and is the single biggest cause of severe disability
Every 5 minutes someone in the UK will have a stroke with 1 in 4 occurring in people of working age
There are over 100,000 strokes each year responsible for 34,000 deaths each year in the UK
People with CHD or who have had a heart attack are twice as likely to have a stroke
Women tend to have strokes at a later age than men, with almost half of all strokes occuring after the age of 80

Vascular Dementia

Vascular dementia causes around 14,000 deaths each year in the UK
It is the second most common type of dementia affecting at least 180,000 people in the UK (1 in 5 cases)
Vascular dementia accounts for three quarters of dementia cases in stroke survivors

Cholesterol

Close to half of all adults in England have raised cholesterol (>5mmol/L)
High cholesterol is a significant risk factor for developing heart and circulatory diseases
High LDL cholesterol is associated with 1 in 5 heart and circulatory disease deaths in the UK
7-8 million adults in the UK are currently taking medications to help lower their cholesterol, such as statins

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)

High blood pressure is the leading risk factor for CVD in the UK
Around 50% of heart attacks and strokes are associated with high blood pressure
About 30% of adults (16 million) in the UK have high blood pressure, with up to half of these not receiving effective treatment

Inherited high cholesterol conditions

One in 250 people in the UK may have Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH), an inherited form of high cholesterol where cholesterol is doubled or more from birth. This means that 220,000 people have FH, of which less than 8% are known
Without treatment people with FH, can die prematurely of coronary heart disease. Untreated people age 20-39 with FH have a 100-fold increased risk of death from heart disease compared to those of a similar age without FH, so early identification and treatment is needed
Heterozygous FH is when a person inherits an FH causing gene from only one parent.
Less frequently, a person will inherit a gene from both parents and this is known as homozygous FH. LDL cholesterol levels are extremely high in this condition (above 11mmol/L in a child, above 13mmol/L in an adult)
Untreated people aged 20-39 with FH have a 100 fold increased risk of death from CHD compared to those without
It is estimated that 55,000 children in the UK have FH but fewer than 600 of these are known

Lifestyle Risk Factors

According to the WHO the most important behavioural risk factors for CVD are unhealthy diet, physical activity, tobacco use and harmful use of alcohol

Smoking

At least 1 in 8 adults smoke cigarettes in the UK - around 7 million adults
Nearly 80,000 smokers in the UK die from smoking related causes each year
Up to 15,000 deaths in the UK from heart and circulatory diseases can be attributed to smoking

Alcohol

Both men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis, and these should be spread evenly over 3 or more days
About a quarter of UK adults exceed current national guidelines for weekly alcohol intake
27% of drinkers binge drink
Alcohol is a causal factor in more than 60 medical conditions (mouth, liver and breast cancers, high blood pressure etc)

Diet

76% of UK adults (19-64) fail to meet the "five-a-day" recommendation
Less than 10% of UK adults meet the fibre recommendations (30g/ day)
77% of UK adults eat more saturated fat than recommended
only 1 in 5 of the UK meet the weekly 2 portions of fish recommendations

Physical Activity

More than a third (34%) of men and almost half (42%) of women in the UK do not achieve recommended levels of physical activity (150 minutes each week).
You can reduce your risk of developing heart and circulatory disease by as much as 35% by being more active

Overweight and obesity

2 out of every 3 (64%) adults 18 years plus are overweight or obese (BMI 25+)
26% are obese (BMI over 30)
More than a third (38%) are overweight (BMI 25-30)
27% of children (2-15 years) in the UK are defined as overweight or obese
15% are obese

Page updated 13th March 2025

Reference list and further reading:

BHF UK CVD Factsheet - January 2025

Women and Stroke - The Stroke Association

Diet stats: Gov.UK Official Statistics (2021) NDNS Diet and Physical Activity - a follow up study during COVID-19

Fish intake: Marine Stewaradship Council (2024) Only 1 in 5 people eating NHS recommended two portions of fish a week

Overweight/Obesity: NHS England Digital (2024) Health Survey for England 2022, part 2

Physical activity (2022)/OHID Guidance: Physical Activity: Applying all our health

Alcohol Change UK: Alcohol statistics

NICE: Familial hypercholesterolaemia: identification and management. Clinical Guideline CG71. 2019

World Health Organisation - Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs)

Accelerated Access Collaborative - Summary of National Guidance for Lipid Management for Primary and Secondary Prevention of CVD

Public Health England - Familial Hypercholesterolaemia: implementing a systems approach to detection and management, 2018