Death rates from heart disease are continuing to fall in most EU countries, according to new research.

However, in some EU countries, the reduction in deaths is beginning to plateau or even to increase slightly.

The researchers say mortality rate trends in some countries are a cause for concern, particularly among younger people, probably due to increases in obesity and diabetes levels.

According to a study published online in the European Heart Journal, in the majority of EU countries, there have been ongoing significant reductions in heart disease death rates among both sexes and in most age groups, including among younger people.

However, heart disease remains a major cause of death in Europe, the researchers stress.

The study found there was significant variation between individual countries, and a levelling off and even increases in heart disease deaths in some age groups in some countries.

The absolute numbers of deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) are still high in Europe, even in countries showing downward trends in their death rates.

"It is clear that there are some countries in which trends are cause for concern, where overall rates of decrease in CHD mortality do appear to have slowed, and a small number of countries in which CHD mortality rates have begun to increase significantly in recent years or decades in younger sub-populations," said Dr Melanie Nichols, a member of the research team from the British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Group at the University of Oxford in England.

"In addition, we should emphasise that cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in Europe, and it is important that we continue to focus efforts on primary prevention, including reducing smoking, improving diets and physical activity levels," Dr Nichols said.

Dr Nichols and her colleagues in the Oxford research group looked at trends in deaths from coronary heart disease between 1980 and 2009 in both sexes and four age groups: under 45, 45-54, 55-64, and 65 years and over.

They found that almost all EU countries had a significant decrease in death rates from CHD over the past 30 years in both men and women.

Denmark, Malta, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK had the largest decreases in heart disease death rates for both sexes during this time.

The exceptions were among men in Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, where the decreases were small and not statistically significant, and in Romania where there was a small, statistically significant increase.

The researchers also found there was some evidence that the downward trends in heart disease mortality were beginning to plateau in those aged under 45 among men and women in Italy, Latvia, Lithuania and the UK, among men in Poland and Slovakia, and among women in the Czech Republic and France.

"In a small number of countries, there is some evidence that the decreasing trends may be slowing, including among younger age groups, probably due to increases in risk factors such as obesity and diabetes. These countries are, however, clearly in the minority," Dr Nichols said.

The researchers say that the increase in risk factors for coronary heart disease, such as smoking, obesity and diabetes, could lead to heart disease death rates increasing in years to come and stressed theneed for action to be taken to tackle these risk factors.

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