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Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes

Asked by Mr Gregory CampbellDemocratic Unionist PartyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 16 May 2025UIN 51812

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the three main contributory factors are in the recent trends in the level of (a) Type 2 diabetes, (b) Coronary heart disease and (c) stroke.

Answered by Ashley Dalton

According to the Global Burden of Disease, in 2021 the three main contributory risk factors for the burden in the United Kingdom for type 2 diabetes were high body mass index, dietary risks, and low physical activity, excluding high blood glucose. For coronary heart disease, the main contributory risk factors were high blood pressure, dietary risks, and high cholesterol. For stroke, the risk factors were high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and tobacco use.

It is not possible to assess how much these risk factors have influenced trends or the change in trends for these three conditions, but the top three risk factors for each condition have remained the same from 1990 to 2021. For all three conditions, the prevalence increases with age, so the ageing population is also a leading contributory factor in recent trends.

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