Heart disease and stroke are mainly consequences of atherosclerosis and high blood pressure (hypertension). Heart disease is sometimes included in the broader category of atherosclerotic and hypertensive diseases. Risk factors for heart disease and stroke have been well established for many years. Distinct from age, family history, and possible genetic determinants are modifiable risk factors that cause heart attacks and strokes, including high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes. Behaviors that contribute to development of risk factors for heart disease, partly by causing obesity, include adverse dietary patterns and physical inactivity.

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Social and environmental conditions that may determine such behavioral patterns, in turn, include education and income, cultural influences, family and personal habits, and opportunities to make favorable choices.For example, dietary patterns result from the influences of food production policies, marketing practices, product availability, cost, convenience, knowledge, choices that affect health, and preferences that are often based on early-life habits. Because many aspects of behavior are clearly beyond the control of the individual, the scope of heart disease and Stroke and stroke prevention, from the public health perspective, extends far beyond the individual or the patient. Thus, a comprehensive public health strategy for heart disease prevention must address the broader determinants of risk and disease burden as they affect both the population as a whole and particular groups of special concern, including those determinants that make healthier choices more likely for defeating heart disease.

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.

Article written by Hector Milla, editor of http://www.heartdiseasesympton.com a website about heart disease symptoms. You may see a full list of 100 heart disease articles at http://www.heartdiseasesympton.com/xenu.html , thanks for using this heart disease article in your website or ezine keeping a live link.

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Scott Parat has compiled and placed these pages on the web for the benefit of anyone suffering from heart disease. Scott has been involved in the health field for the last 20 years and focuses much of his attention toward natural solutions to health problems.

Heart Attack Symtoms

The National Heart Attack Alert Program notes these major signs of a heart attack: Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain.

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Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.