Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in China

  • Review
  • Published:
Frontiers of Medicine in China Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) cause one third of all deaths in China, and the number is anticipated to double by 2020. They also greatly result in disability and adjusted life year loss. The prevalence of CVD has become a new burden for China, due to an aging population, smoking, and changes in dietary habits and lifestyles. As the largest developing country, China needs to tailor her own national policies for managing CVD with full consideration of epidemiology, local needs, and affordability. Smoking cessation, increased physical activity, control of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, and maintenance of a “traditional Chinese” diet should be important strategies for reducing the burden of CVD in China. Health officials in China should take their responsibilities to implement educational and preventive measures seriously.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wu Y, Huxley R, Li L, Anna V, Xie G, Yao C, Woodward M, Li X, Chalmers J, Gao R, Kong L, Yang X. Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in China: data from the China national nutrition and health survey 2002. Circulation, 2008, 118(25): 2679–2686

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Mark D B, Van de Werf F J, Simes R J, White H D, Wallentin L C, Califf R M, Armstrong P W; VIGOUR Group for the VG. Cardiovascular disease on a global scale: defining the path forward for research and practice. Eur Heart J, 2007, 28(21): 2678–2684

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Klein W. Cardiovascular disease at the turn of the millennium: focus on Europe. Eur Heart J Suppl, 2001, 3(Supplement M): M2–M6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Hua W, Zhang L F, Wu Y F, Liu X Q, Guo D S, Zhou H L, Gou Z P, Zhao L C, Niu H X, Chen K P, Mai J Z, Chu L N, Zhang S. Incidence of sudden cardiac death in China: analysis of 4 regional populations. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2009, 54(12): 1110–1118

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Yusuf S, Reddy S, Ounpuu S, Anand S. Global burden of cardiovascular diseases: part I: general considerations, the epidemiologic transition, risk factors, and impact of urbanization. Circulation, 2001, 104(22): 2746–2753

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. He Y, Jiang B, Wang J, Feng K, Chang Q, Zhu S, Fan L, Li X, Hu F B. BMI versus the metabolic syndrome in relation to cardiovascular risk in elderly Chinese individuals. Diabetes Care, 2007, 30(8): 2128–2134

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. He J, Gu D, Wu X, Reynolds K, Duan X, Yao C, Wang J, Chen C S, Chen J, Wildman R P, Klag M J, Whelton P K. Major causes of death among men and women in China. N Engl J Med, 2005, 353(11): 1124–1134

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Muntner P, Gu D, Wu X, Duan X, Wenqi G, Whelton P K, He J. Factors associated with hypertension awareness, treatment, and control in a representative sample of the Chinese population. Hypertension, 2004, 43(3): 578–585

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Critchley J, Liu J, Zhao D, Wei W, Capewell S. Explaining the increase in coronary heart disease mortality in Beijing between 1984 and 1999. Circulation, 2004, 110(10): 1236–1244

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Zhang X H, Lu Z L, Liu L. Coronary heart disease in China. Heart, 2008, 94(9): 1126–1131

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Wu Z, Yao C, Zhao D, Wu G, Wang W, Liu J, Zeng Z, Wu Y. Sino-MONICA project: a collaborative study on trends and determinants in cardiovascular diseases in China, Part I: morbidity and mortality monitoring. Circulation, 2001, 103(3): 462–468

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Girmatsion Z, Biliczki P, Bonauer A, Wimmer-Greinecker G, Scherer M, Moritz A, Bukowska A, Goette A, Nattel S, Hohnloser S H, Ehrlich J R. Changes in microRNA-1 expression and I(K1) upregulation in human atrial fibrillation. Heart Rhythm, 2009, 6(12): 1802–1809

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Coronel R, Langerveld J, Boersma L V, Wever E F, Bon L, van Dessel P F, Linnenbank A C, van Gilst W H, Ernst S M, Opthof T, van Hemel N M. Left atrial pressure reduction for mitral stenosis reverses left atrial direction dependent conduction abnormalities. Cardiovasc Res, 2009, DOI: 10.1093/CVR/CVP374

  14. Virtanen J K, Mursu J, Voutilainen S, Tuomainen T P. Serum longchain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and risk of hospital diagnosis of atrial fibrillation in men. Circulation, 2009, 120(23): 2315–2321

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Hu D, Sun Y. Epidemiology, risk factors for stroke, and management of atrial fibrillation in China. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2008, 52(10): 865–868

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Zhou Z, Hu D. An epidemiological study on the prevalence of atrial fibrillation in the Chinese population of mainland China. J Epidemiol, 2008, 18(5): 209–216

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. He J, Gu D, Reynolds K, Wu X, Muntner P, Zhao J, Chen J, Liu D, Mo J, Whelton P K. Serum total and lipoprotein cholesterol levels and awareness, treatment, and control of hypercholesterolemia in China. Circulation, 2004, 110(4): 405–411

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Zhang S. Atrial fibrillation in mainland China: epidemiology and current management. Heart, 2009, 95(13): 1052–1055

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Pascual-Figal D A, Ordonez-Llanos J, Tornel P L, Vazquez R, Puig T, Valdes M, Cinca J, de Luna A B, Bayes-Genis A. Soluble ST2 for predicting sudden cardiac death in patients with chronic heart failure and left ventricular systolic dysfunction. J Am Coll Cardiol, 2009, 54(23): 2174–2179

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. George A L Jr. Common genetic variants in sudden cardiac death. Heart Rhythm, 2009, 6(11 Suppl): S3–9

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Colquhoun S M, Carapetis J R, Kado J H, Steer A C. Rheumatic heart disease and its control in the Pacific. Expert Rev Cardiovas Ther, 2009, 7(12): 1517–1524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Zhimin W, Yubao Z, Lei S, Xianliang Z, Wei Z, Li S, Hao W, Jianjun L, Detrano R, Rutai H. Prevalence of chronic rheumatic heart disease in Chinese adults. Int J Cardiol, 2006, 107(3): 356–359

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Knirsch W, Zingg W, Bernet V, Balmer C, Dimitropoulos A, Pretre R, Bauersfeld U, Latal B. Determinants of body weight gain and association with neurodevelopmental outcome in infants operated for congenital heart disease. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg, 2009, DOI: 10.1510/icvts.2009.216135

  24. Yang X Y, Li X F, Lu X D, Liu Y L. Incidence of congenital heart disease in Beijing, China. Chin Med J (Engl), 2009, 122(10): 1128–1132

    Google Scholar 

  25. Callow A D. Cardiovascular disease 2005-the global picture. Vascul Pharmacol, 2006, 45(5): 302–307

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Gu D, Reynolds K, Wu X, Chen J, Duan X, Muntner P, Huang G, Reynolds R F, Su S, Whelton P K, He J. Prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in china. Hypertension, 2002, 40(6): 920–927

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Yusuf S, Reddy S, Ounpuu S, Anand S. Global burden of cardiovascular diseases: Part II: variations in cardiovascular disease by specific ethnic groups and geographic regions and prevention strategies. Circulation, 2001, 104(23): 2855–2864

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Gu D, Gupta A, Muntner P, Hu S, Duan X, Chen J, Reynolds R F, Whelton P K, He J. Prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factor clustering among the adult population of China: results from the International Collaborative Study of Cardiovascular Disease in Asia (InterAsia). Circulation, 2005, 112(5): 658–665

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Liu L. Cardiovascular diseases in China. Biochem Cell Biol, 2007, 85(2): 157–163

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Cheng T O. The current state of cardiology in China. Int J Cardiol, 2004, 96(3): 425–439

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Howard B V, Comuzzie A, Devereux R B, Ebbesson S O, Fabsitz R R, Howard W J, Laston S, Maccluer J W, Silverman A, Umans J G, Wang H, Weissman N J, Wenger C R. Cardiovascular disease prevalence and its relation to risk factors in Alaska Eskimos. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis, 2009, DOI: 10.1016/j

  32. Liu M, Wu B, Wang W Z, Lee L M, Zhang S H, Kong L Z. Stroke in China: epidemiology, prevention, and management strategies. Lancet Neurol, 2007, 6(5): 456–464

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Berger J S, Bhatt D L, Steinhubl S R, Shao M, Steg P G, Montalescot G, Hacke W, Fox K A, Lincoff A M, Topol E J, Berger P B. Smoking, clopidogrel, and mortality in patients with established cardiovascular disease. Circulation, 2009, 120(23): 2337–2344

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Hu J, Wallace D C, Jones E, Liu H. Cardiometabolic health of Chinese older adults with diabetes living in Beijing, China. Public Health Nurs, 2009, 26(6): 500–511

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Cheng T O. Smoking and diabetes in Chinese men. Postgrad Med J, 2001, 77(910): 551

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Gu D, Wu X, Reynolds K, Duan X, Xin X, Reynolds R F, Whelton P K, He J. Cigarette smoking and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in China: the international collaborative study of cardiovascular disease in Asia. Am J Public Health, 2004, 94(11): 1972–1976

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. McGuire K A, Janssen I, Ross R. Ability of physical activity to predict cardiovascular disease beyond commonly evaluated cardiometabolic risk factors. Am J Cardiol, 2009, 104(11): 1522–1526

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Fu F H, Fung L. The cardiovascular health of residents in selected metropolitan cities in China. Prev Med, 2004, 38(4): 458–467

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Kelly T N, Gu D, Chen J, Huang J F, Chen J C, Duan X, Wu X, Yau C L, Whelton P K, He J. Hypertension subtype and risk of cardiovascular disease in Chinese adults. Circulation, 2008, 118(15): 1558–1566

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Lee D E, Cooper R S. Recommendations for global hypertension monitoring and prevention. Curr Hypertens Rep, 2009, 11(6): 444–449

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Tang J L, Hu Y H. Drugs for preventing cardiovascular disease in China. BMJ, 2005, 330(7492): 610–611

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200065, China

    Jun-Jie Xiao & Yi-Han Chen

  2. Key Laboratory of Arrhythmias of Ministry of Education, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200065, China

    Jun-Jie Xiao & Yi-Han Chen

  3. Institute of Medical Genetics, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200065, China

    Jun-Jie Xiao & Yi-Han Chen

Authors
  1. Jun-Jie Xiao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yi-Han Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yi-Han Chen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Xiao, JJ., Chen, YH. Prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in China. Front. Med. China 4, 16–20 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11684-010-0007-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11684-010-0007-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation