TY - JOUR T1 - Recent advances in the epidemiology, outcome, and prevention of myocardial infarction and stroke in sub-Saharan Africa JF - Heart JO - Heart SP - 1230 LP - 1235 DO - 10.1136/heartjnl-2012-303585 VL - 99 IS - 17 AU - Mpiko Ntsekhe AU - Albertino Damasceno Y1 - 2013/09/01 UR - http://heart.bmj.com/content/99/17/1230.abstract N2 - The early part of the new millennium witnessed reports of a growing burden of cardiovascular disease in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However the contribution of ischemic heart disease and stroke to this increasing burden relative to that caused by hypertensive heart disease, cardiomyopathy and rheumatic heart disease was not clear. Over the last decade, data from the continent has begun to clarify this issue and suggests three main points. The burden of ischemic heart disease relative to other causes of heart disease remains low particularly in the black Africans majority. Stroke caused predominantly by hypertension is now a major cause of disability and premature death. Third, the burden of risk factors for atherosclerosis is increasing rapidly in most urban and some rural regions. A concerted effort to understand the primary drivers of this increase in cardiac risk factors is required to prevent a future epidemic of atherosclerosis and its sequelae. ER -