Heart disease deaths probe

MORE than 100 people died from heart disease across Halton in a year according to the most recent NHS figures.

Figures for NHS Halton Clincial Commissioning Group showed 39 women and 62 men passed away from the condition in 2015 under the age of 75.

It works out to be the equivalent of 82 people in every 100,000 living in Runcorn and Widnes.

Nearby Knowsley – which includes the Widnes neighbourhood of Cronton – has one of the highest rates of under 75s dying from heart disease out of anywhere in the country.

The latest figures from the NHS revealed that 140 people in the area died of cardiovascular disease in 2015, despite being relatively young.

That represents 100 people in every 100,000 living in Knowsley – the fourth highest rate in England, after parts of Manchester and Birmingham.

Across the country, 33,420 people under the age of 75 lost their lives to heart and blood vessel diseases in 2015, or just 64 in every 100,000 people.

Other parts of Merseyside also had particularly high rates of younger people dying from cardiovascular problems.

In St Helens, 167 relatively young people died of heart disease that year, or 83 in every 100,000 people under 75.

Meanwhile, Southport and Formby saw the lowest rate of these kinds of deaths in the region, with just 58 in every 100,000 people affected – 82 in total.

Across Merseyside as a whole men were more than twice as likely to die early from heart disease as women.

Over the course of the year, 295 women in the region under the age of 75 died of heart and blood vessel diseases, compared to 634 men.

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of death in the country, and include heart attacks, strokes and arrhythmia.

As well as age being a factor in developing cardiovascular diseases, lifestyle choices such as poor diet, lack of exercise, obesity, drinking and smoking can all increase the risk.

Levels of obesity differ across Merseyside, but generally are about average.

In Knowsley, for example, 12% of people are considered obese by doctors, only slightly higher than the 9% across England as a whole.

The high rates of death from cardiovascular diseases amongst younger people in the area must, therefore, be attributed to another factor.