Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of mortality among middle aged adults globally, accounting for 40% of all deaths, but this is no longer the case in high-income countries (HIC), where cancer is now responsible for twice as many deaths as CVD, according to a new report from the PURE study published in The Lancet.

It was estimated that 55 million deaths occurred in the world in 2017, of which approximately 17.7 million were due to cardiovascular disease (CVD).

The PURE study is the only large prospective international cohort study that involves substantial data from a large number of middle-income countries (MIC) and low-income countries (LIC), as well as HIC, and employs standardised and concurrent methods of sampling, measurement and follow-up.

"The world is witnessing a new epidemiologic transition among the different categories of non-communicable diseases (NCD), with CVD no longer the leading cause of death in HIC," said Dr Gilles Dagenais, Emeritus Professor at Laval University, Quebec, Canada.