Deaths from heart disease in Ireland have fallen by nearly 50 percent in 15 years thanks to lifestyle changes and improved treatments, researchers said.

About half the decrease was due to a sharp drop in the number of smokers and better diet while almost 44 percent was attributable to more effective medication and surgery.

"Between 1985 and 2000, coronary heart disease mortality rates in Ireland fell by 47 percent in men and women aged 25-84," said Dr Kathleen Bennett, of St James's Hospital in Dublin.

The decrease resulted in about 3,800 fewer deaths in 2000 than in 1985, according to the research reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Heart disease and stroke are leading causes of death in developed countries. In the European Union, cardiovascular disease is the single biggest health problem and cost the bloc's 25 members 169 billion euros ($202 billion) in healthcare in 2003, according to a recent report by scientists at Oxford University.

Bennett and her team studied published data on specific treatments for heart disease and risk factors for the illness such as high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, raised cholesterol levels, diabetes and lack of exercise.

Sharp falls in smoking, a decrease in cholesterol levels and falls in high blood pressure contributed to the decrease due to lifestyle changes in Ireland.

In 2004, Ireland became the first country in the world to impose a nationwide ban on smoking in all workplaces, including pubs and restaurants.

Researchers in the United States found that after the city of Helena in Montana had passed similar legislation there was a sharp drop in heart attacks.

"These results have major public health implications, particularly in relation to supporting the recent workplace smoking ban introduced in Ireland," Bennett added in the study.

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