One of the highest rates of death due to heart disease in the world affects the United Kingdom (UK). According to statistics, one British adult dies from the disease every three minutes; meanwhile stroke ranks third as the country's biggest killer, causing the death of 70,000 men and women each year.

Experts explain that heart attacks happen when blood flow is closed, often because a blood clot occurs, while strokes when a blood tube in your brain suddenly are caused by blocked or burst of blood vessels.

There exist various and different heart conditions, such as heart attack, heart failure, heart muscle disease, heart valve disease, congenital heart defects, angina, hardened arteries, high blood pressure and disturbed heart rhythm.

These conditions -such as heart failure, when blood is not pumped around the body in a proper way, along with congenital heart defects- can cause long term problems and death for sufferers.

The importance of heart is vital. This body organ pumps blood through the body carrying oxygen and other nutrients to the areas that need it. However, serious illness and even death can result when this process is interrupted or does not work correctly.

Although men are more likely to suffer from heart disease than women, people with poor diet, who smoke and do not exercise, are in greater risk for developing a heart related disease.

In order to alleviate symptoms or save the lives of sufferers there exist different tests and treatments, including drugs, heart bypass surgery and transplants.



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Cardiomyopathy is a rare heart muscle disease over the world, but not in Africa where it is one of the major causes of heart failure, according to experts that reviewed all available cardiomyopathy studies performed in Africa, along with all the information about the causes and types of heart muscle disease in Africa, where 10 per cent of the world's population lives.

A 10 per cent to 17 per cent of cardiac problems found through autopsies in South Africa and Uganda, and 17 per cent to 48 per cent of heart failure diagnoses in many parts of Africa are due to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), which is an enlargement of the entire heart, explain researchers.

In the United States, 4 to 8 per 100,000 people are affected by DCM, but African overall incidence is unknown, because the corresponding studies have not been made yet.

Researchers' findings show that Peripartum cardiomyopathy has a very high incidence throughout Africa and Nigeria. This illness can cause heart failure and it develops between the last month of pregnancy and the first five months after childbirth.
Peripartum cardiomyopathy incidence in the US is 1 in 15,000 deliveries; meanwhile the incidence in South Africa is 1 in 1,000 cases.

DCM is caused by various factors, under generally accepted African theory. These include untreated high blood pressure, infective and toxic agents, inappropriate immunologic reactions, nutritional deficiencies, and genetic factors.

According to experts, it is important to do more research to understand the underlying reasons for Africa's high cardiomyopathy rate, and prevent or reduce it.



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