World Heart Day 2022: Heart failure is now a growing health threat in Africa and the Middle East -Experts

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world in marking World Heart Day (WHD) 2022, research has shown that rising rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Africa and the Middle East are prompting concerns.

Some regional experts in a report published in the Journal of the Saudi Heart Association therefore called for urgent action to stop and reverse the trend.

The report highlights that heart failure is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and has a significant impact on patients' quality of life, as well as a substantial economic burden, with an estimated total cost of $1.92 billion US dollars.

He notes that the average age at which a person will develop heart failure in the MEA region is significantly lower than elsewhere: Africa (53), Middle East (56.4), North Africa (58 ,79 years old), Asia (60 years old) and Europe (70 years old).

Experts point to risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, smoking and socio-economic transition, marked by a sedentary lifestyle, lack of physical activity and high consumption of fatty foods , as major contributors to the higher prevalence of heart failure in the region.

They also agreed that, in some countries, the high prevalence of existing infectious diseases such as tuberculosis diverts attention and resources away from non-communicable diseases such as heart failure.

Experts said that cardiovascular disease, which remains the leading cause of death worldwide, has continued to rise despite various prevention mechanisms.

Cardiovascular disease is a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and includes coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and other conditions.

According to statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 17.9 million people die each year from cardiovascular diseases, representing 31% of deaths worldwide.

More than four in five CVD deaths are due to heart attacks and strokes, and one-third of these deaths occur prematurely in people under the age of 70.

Various research has identified unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, smoking, and harmful use of alcohol as the most important behavioral risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

At least 1.9 million people die each year from tobacco-induced heart disease, according to the WHO. It also states that smokeless tobacco is responsible for approximately 200,000 coronary heart disease-related deaths per year.

However, health experts have said that Nigerians still indulge in dangerous practices such as smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, which are fueling the rise in heart disease cases. Situation in Nigeria

David Oke, Cardiologist and Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, said there is a paradigm shift in the pattern of cardiovascular disease in Nigeria and Africa in general.< /p>

Mr. Oke said that although cardiovascular diseases were less prevalent in the past, their numbers have increased in recent times due to unhealthy diets and lifestyles.

"In the past, we had a lot of diseases with less prevalence, but now, due to civilization and what is happening in the so-called developed countries, we now have more non-communicable diseases", a- he declared. .

He said heart failure was also increasing due to the country's inability to tackle hypertension.

He said that some people suffer from heart failure due to untreated high blood pressure.

"If we can't fight hypertension because of the economic situation, if we can't buy the necessary drugs, that is, heart failure will become more widespread", a- he said.

Mr. Oke said that with the current economic crisis, Nigeria is heading towards a point where every family will have someone with heart failure.

A Consultant Cardiologist at Lagos State Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ramon Moronkola, said that many factors can affect the heart including hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity and certain ways of life.

Mr. Moronkola said lifestyles such as excessive alcohol consumption and tobacco use, including smoking, have a long-term negative effect on the heart.

"All of these highlighted factors can affect the heart, which then leads to heart failure, a condition in which the heart fails to function...