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Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa

Reporter and Curator: Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP 

In the immediate preceding article we discussed the problem of small subsistence farming and dependence on crop, and milk as a main source of food. We discussed the dilemma of unavailability of adequate nutrition, that posed a dilemma.  Insects invade and destroy the vegetation.  That can be avoided by either of two choices, crop-treatment with pesticide or by GMO crops resistant to types of destruction, both having unaffordable costs that impose an austere challenge and abject poverty with marginal after sales gains, in no way comparable to farming in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, or California, U.S.  So the situation could be improved by the introduction of/or development of a practical genome-based synthetic tehnology that might be free of Western dominance, if there were the home-based universities and scientific research.
I also touched on the consequences of the malnutrition in that region because of a diet that imposes either marasmic or kwashiorkor-like feature, the distinction being made based on the body compartment related to loss of fat mass or the loss of lean body mass, the latter being more serious.

Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa

The abstract of this discussion is directly taken from an article published in Clinical Medicine Insights: Cardiology; 2008: 2: 25-31,  Libertas Academica, ISSN(s):1178-1165.  Added to DOAJ: 2008-05-01
http://la-press.com/article.php?article_id=529

Cardiovascular Risk Reduction in Diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa: What should the Priorities be in the Absence of Global Risk Evaluation Tools?

Subjects: Diseases of the circulatory (Cardiovascular) system, Specialties of internal medicine, Internal medicine, Medicine, Cardiovascular, Medicine (General), Health Sciences
Andre Pascal Kengne, Alfred Kongnyu Njamnshi, Jean Claude Mbanya

Keywords: diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, risk factors, prevention, Sub-Saharan Africa

Background

The growing burden of type 2 diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and related cardiovascular complications call for vigorous actions into prevention. Comprehensive cardiovascular risk evaluation is important for the success of such actions.

Methods

We have reviewed 3 currently existing sets of recommendations for cardiovascular prevention in diabetes in SSA. Distribution of major risk factors and patterns of reported cardiovascular outcomes are used to suggest orientations for cardiovascular prevention in diabetes in this region. Papers and reports published over the period 1990 to 2007 were used.

Results

Existing guidelines share some similarities, but also have areas of inconsistencies. They are generally adaptations of existing guidelines, focused more on individual risk factors, and are not usually backed-up by local evidence.

• They all have a projection on blood pressure lowering.

This focus is supported by the high prevalence of hypertension among people with diabetes in SSA.

• Blood pressure and tobacco smoking are the modifiable risk factors accessible to evaluation and interventions on a wide scale in SSA.

Appropriate blood pressure control will have a major impact on stroke (the commonest cardiovascular disease) through

• a reduction of the cerebrovascular risk, and
• to a lesser extent on coronary heart disease and
• total deaths in diabetes in this region.

Conclusions

In the absence of global risk evaluation tools,

• the use of blood pressure lowering as a primary focus of cardiovascular prevention strategies is relevant for SSA.

However, there is a need to set-up diabetes and stroke registers

• to monitor outcomes and generate tools for accurate risk prediction and management in diabetes in this region.