Heart attack and chronic heart disease are a sub-category of All cardiovascular deaths (See Map 9). 95% of the deaths here are due to atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries.

See also Map 89 Aortic aneurysm and Map 100 Other heart disease.

As a cause of death is more specifically defined, the map of its topography becomes smoother. The neighbourhoods where rates are highest tend to be surrounded by areas with the next highest rates. These are almost all in the north, and rates peak in Scotland, particularly both in and around Glasgow, which is surrounded by a ring of slightly lower rates.

The author Douglas Adams and the educationalist Ted Wragg are among the millions of people to have died of this cause.

Further south, in Wales, Stoke and south Yorkshire are similar rings that highlight the peaks of risk in those areas. Around these areas are found in turn neighbourhoods where rates are average, and next to them areas where you are less likely than most people to die from this most common of causes. Only a few such areas of low risk are found in the north of England, in Scotland and in Wales. Such areas are ubiquitous in the south, where the very lowest rates are found. There are rarely great differences between adjoining areas. Where there are, within the centre of London, is where very rich and very poor live almost side by side.

Heart disease is a major cause of death in Britain and accounts for one quarter of all deaths over the total period studied here. Smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, obesity, low physical activity levels and diabetes are important causes of this condition.

Ischaemic heart disease is when there is a build-up of plaques within the walls of the arteries that supply the heart with oxygen and nutrients. People are often not aware that they have the condition until the disease is at an advanced stage; often a sudden heart attack is the first symptom. A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart is interrupted, often from complete blockage of an artery by broken-off plaque.