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Non-infectious diseases in tropical medicine: The impact of chronic-degenerative diseases in developing countries

Abstract:

As infections and malnutrition become less frequent, cardiovascular diseases are growing as a leading cause of mortality even in developing countries. Although the cardiovascular deaths still contribute less to total mortality in developing areas (a quarter) than in developed ones (half), the former are already responsible for the majority of the world cardiovascular death burden because of their large populations. With industrialization and urbanization, adverse lifestyle changes raise the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, hence also the incidence of cardiovascular diseases. High blood pressure is the major avoidable cause of mortality in both developing and developed regions, well above tobacco, alcohol and high cholesterol. Strategies to recognize hypertensive people and provide pharmacological therapy according to their overall risk are cost-effective ways to limit cardiovascular disease in developed and developing countries. In the latter, however, population-based studies show very low levels of awareness, treatment and control of hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension and its effects in a poor rural area of Ecuador are discussed as a model case of management of a cardiovascular risk factor in a developing country.