Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death in Europe as well as in the European Union (EU), where it is responsible for 3.9 and 1.8 million deaths respectively every year. CVD mortality is falling in most European countries. However, declining death rates do not go hand in hand with declining morbidity. The number of CVD patients remains at a very high level; in the EU alone, almost 49 million people live with cardiovascular disease.
Within CVD, heart failure is a condition, which is common but neither widely known nor simple. The main causes of heart failure are coronary heart disease and high blood pressure.