During recent decades, death rates from cardiovascular disease​

A) ​have been quite consistent across all nations of the world.
B) ​dropped faster in Eastern Europe than in the United States.
C) ​have been higher for Russian women than for Russian men.
D) ​increased greatly in the former USSR but are now dropping.

The question asks about death rates from cardiovascular disease, and the only option that mentions an increase in these death rates is D, which refers to the former USSR. However, the question also states that these death rates are now dropping, which supports option D as the correct answer. Option A is incorrect because there are significant differences in cardiovascular disease death rates between nations. Option B is incorrect because it only compares Eastern Europe to the United States, and not other regions of the world. Option C is incorrect because it only refers to Russia, and not other nations or regions of the world.