Cardiovascular disease now accounts for 45 per cent of all deaths and is therefore the main cause of death in Europe, reveals a new study funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Despite deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) falling in most European countries, as a whole, figures are still very high. The study found that 49 per cent of all women and 40 per cent of all men in Europe die as a result of CVD, with rates being particularly high in Eastern Europe.

Commenting on the data, BHF chief executive, Simon Gillespie, said: "For women, the figures are particularly worrying – almost half of the women in Europe die from heart attacks or strokes. This shows the urgent need to fund more research towards faster, more accurate diagnosis and more effective treatments, alongside work to help prevent people developing heart and circulatory diseases in the first place.”

This research comes after new figures from the BHF earlier this week revealed almost 10,000 people of working age in the UK suffered a fatal heart attack last year, the equivalent of 200 people each week.

Often people show symptoms of heart disease such as chest pain, but someone of any age can die suddenly from a heart condition without any prior symptoms. The BHF is therefore urging people not to be complacent about the risks of heart disease.