Published in JAMA, this Visualizing Health Metrics infographic, based on the Global Burden of Disease 2013 study, provides information about cardiovascular disease mortality and prevalence, and the effect of population change on cardiovascular mortality from 1990 through 2013. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study is the largest and most comprehensive effort to date to measure epidemiological trends worldwide. Despite a decline in age-specific death rates, cardiovascular disease prevalence and mortality have increased since 1990, to more than 17 million deaths in 2013. Between 1990 and 2013, overall global cardiovascular mortality increased nearly 41%, and mortality rates for all cardiovascular diseases increased – except rheumatic heart disease, which declined 26.5%. Countries with the fastest rates of decline in cardiovascular mortality include South Korea, Israel, and Bahrain.
