Recent trends in the mortality and morbidity of cardiovascular diseases.

The trend of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality during the recent decades is traced. The standardized death rate for ischaemic heart disease had increased, for cerebrovascular disease it has remained stable and for hypertensive, pulmonary and symptomatic heart diseases it has declined. If the number of hospital admission is taken to be indicative of the prevalence of the disease in the community, then the prevalence rates of not only ischaemic heart disease but also hypertensive, pulmonary and symptomatic heart diseases have risen. The sex, age and ethnic characteristics of deaths and patients with different cardiovascular diseases are also presented and discussed.