Toolbox NCDs

Guideline for the pharmacological treatment of hypertension in adults
recommended

World Health Organization WHO (2021) C_WHO

The recommendations cover the level of blood pressure to start medication, what type of medicine or combination of medicines to use, the target blood pressure level, and how often to have follow-up checks on blood pressure. In addition, the guideline provides the basis for how physicians and other h ... more

WHO global air quality guidelines: particulate matter (‎PM2.5 and PM10)‎, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide

World Health Organization WHO (2021) C_WHO

The global burden of disease associated with air pollution exposure exacts a massive toll on human health worldwide: exposure to air pollution is estimated to cause millions of deaths and lost years of healthy life annually. The burden of disease attributable to air pollution is now estimated to be ... more

Know the Difference Fact Sheet

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2021) CC

Cardiovascular disease, heart disease, and coronary heart disease may sound similar but they are not one in the same. This fact sheet will help you understand how these conditions differ.

Move More Fact Sheet

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2021) CC

Moving more is one of the easiest ways you can lower your risk of getting heart disease. Not sure where to begin? This fact sheet can give you ideas on how to move more and stay motivated while you make physical activity part of your healthy routine.

New Guideline Focuses on Causes of TIAs, Other Stroke Precursors

U.S. Pharmacist (2021) CC

Atlanta, GA—New stroke guidelines strongly encourage clinicians to prescribe antithrombotic therapy, including antiplatelet medications or anticoagulant medications, for nearly all at-risk patients who don’t have contraindications.

Taking Care of Our Hearts, Together Fact Sheet

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2021) CC

Interested in leading a more heart healthy lifestyle? Small steps go a long way especially when you connect with others to stay motivated. This fact sheet suggests several lifestyle changes you can make starting today and ways to get your friends, family, and colleagues involved.

Blood Pressure Medicines

MedlinePlus National Library of Medicine (2021) CC

On this website you can find information on high blood pressure, how to lower it and how blood pressure medicines work.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)

World Health Organization WHO (2021) C_WHO

Key facts - Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death globally. - An estimated 17.9 million people died from CVDs in 2019, representing 32% of all global deaths. Of these deaths, 85% were due to heart attack and stroke. - Over three quarters of CVD deaths take place in low- an ... more

What is Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)?

American Heart Association (2021) CC

Peripheral artery disease is similar to coronary artery disease (CAD). Peripheral artery disease is a narrowing of the peripheral arteries that carry blood away from the heart to other parts of the body. The most common type is lower-extremity PAD, in which blood flow is reduced to the legs and fee ... more

2021 Guideline for the Prevention of Stroke in Patients With Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack: A Guideline From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

Kleindorfer, .O.; Towfighi, A.; Chaturvedi, S. et al. American Heart Association (2021) CC

Each year, ≈795 000 individuals in the United States experience a stroke, of which 87% (690 000) are ischemic and 185 000 are recurrent.1 Approximately 240 000 individuals experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA) each year.2 The risk of recurrent stroke or TIA is high but can be mitiga ... more

National User Guide on the Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension in Adults at the PHC Level 2021

Health Department: Republic of South Africa (2021) CC

Hypertension is referred to as a “silent killer”. Most people with hypertension are unaware of their condition as in most cases, they experience no warning signs or symptoms hence they are not identified or treated. Hypertention is associated with a number of conditions, disability, and causes o ... more

World Heart Federation Roadmap for Hypertension – A 2021 Update

Jemoon, P.; Séverin, T.; Amodeo, C. et al. Global Heart (2021) CC

The World Heart Federation (WHF) Roadmap series covers a large range of cardiovascular conditions. These Roadmaps identify potential roadblocks and their solutions to improve the prevention, detection and management of cardiovascular diseases and provide a generic global framework available for loca ... more

World Heart Federation Roadmap on Atrial Fibrillation – A 2020 Update

Freedman, B.; Hindricks, G.; Banerjee, A. Global Heart (2021) CC

The World Heart Federation (WHF) commenced a Roadmap initiative in 2015 to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease and resultant burgeoning of healthcare costs. Roadmaps provide a blueprint for implementation of priority solutions for the principal cardiovascular diseases leading to death ... more

Epidemiology of Peripheral Artery Disease and Polyvascular Disease

Aday A.W.; Matsushita, K. Circulation Research (2021) CC

Atherosclerotic lower-extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) is increasingly recognized as an important cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality that affects more than 230 million people worldwide. Traditional cardiovascular risk factors, including advanced age, smoking, and diabetes, are ... more

Trend analysis of cardiovascular disease mortality, incidence, and mortality-to-incidence ratio: results from global burden of disease study 2017

Amini, M.; Zayeri, F.; Salehi, M. BioMed Central (2021) CC

Background Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the global leading causes of concern due to the rising prevalence and consequence of mortality and disability with a heavy economic burden. The objective of the current study was to analyze the trend in CVD incidence, mortality, and mortality-to- ... incidence ratio (MIR) across the world over 28 years. Methods The age-standardized CVD mortality and incidence rates were retrieved from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2017 for both genders and different world super regions with available data every year during the period 1990–2017. Additionally, the Human Development Index was sourced from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) database for all countries at the same time interval. The marginal modeling approach was implemented to evaluate the mean trend of CVD incidence, mortality, and MIR for 195 countries and separately for developing and developed countries and also clarify the relationship between the indices and Human Development Index (HDI) from 1990 to 2017. Results The obtained estimates identified that the global mean trend of CVD incidence had an ascending trend until 1996 followed by a descending trend after this year. Nearly all of the countries experienced a significant declining mortality trend from 1990 to 2017. Likewise, the global mean MIR rate had a significant trivial decrement trend with a gentle slope of 0.004 over the time interval. As such, the reduction in incidence and mortality rates for developed countries was significantly faster than developing counterparts in the period 1990–2017 (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, the developing nations had a more rather shallow decrease in MIR compared to developed ones. Conclusions Generally, the findings of this study revealed that there was an overall downward trend in CVD incidence and mortality rates, while the survival rate of CVD patients was rather stable. These results send a satisfactory message that global effort for controlling the CVD burden was quite successful. Nonetheless, there is an urgent need for more efforts to improve the survival rate of patients and lower the burden of this disease in some areas with an increasing trend of either incidence or mortality. more

South African cardiovascular risk stratification guideline for non-cardiac surgery

Alphonsus, C.; Naidoo, N.; Motshabi, P. et al. South African Medical Journal (2021) CC

The South African (SA) guidelines for cardiac patients for non-cardiac surgery were developed to address the need for cardiac risk assessment and risk stratification for elective non-cardiac surgical patients in SA, and more broadly in Africa. The guidelines were developed by updating the Canadian ... Cardiovascular Society Guidelines on Perioperative Cardiac Risk Assessment and Management for Patients Who Undergo Non-cardiac Surgery, with a search of literature from African countries and recent publications. The updated proposed guidelines were then evaluated in a Delphi consensus process by SA anaesthesia and vascular surgical experts. The recommendations in these guidelines are: 1. We suggest that elective non-cardiac surgical patients who are 45 years and older with either a history of coronary artery disease, congestive cardiac failure, stroke or transient ischaemic attack, or vascular surgical patients 18 years or older with peripheral vascular disease require further preoperative risk stratification as their predicted 30-day major adverse cardiac event (MACE) risk exceeds 5% (conditional recommendation: moderate-quality evidence). 2. We do not recommend routine non-invasive testing for cardiovascular risk stratification prior to elective non-cardiac surgery in adults (strong recommendation: low-to-moderate-quality evidence). 3. We recommend that elective non-cardiac surgical patients who are 45 years and older with a history of coronary artery disease, or stroke or transient ischaemic attack, or congestive cardiac failure or vascular surgical patients 18 years or older with peripheral vascular disease should have preoperative natriuretic peptide (NP) screening (strong recommendation: high-quality evidence). 4. We recommend daily postoperative troponin measurements for 48 - 72 hours for non-cardiac surgical patients who are 45 years and older with a history of coronary artery disease, or stroke or transient ischaemic attack, or congestive cardiac failure or vascular surgical patients 18 years or older with peripheral vascular disease, i.e. (i) a baseline risk >5% for MACE 30 days after elective surgery (if no preoperative NP screening), or (ii) an elevated B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP)/N-terminal-prohormone B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) measurement before elective surgery (defined as BNP >99 pg/mL or a NT-proBNP >300 pg/mL) (conditional recommendation: moderate-quality evidence). Additional recommendations are given for the management of myocardial injury after non-cardiac surgery (MINS) and medications for comorbidities. more

Cardiovascular disease risk profile and management practices in 45 low-income and middle-income countries: A cross-sectional study of nationally representative individual-level survey data

Peiris, D.; Ghosh, A.; Manne-Goehler, J. et al. PLoS Medicine (2021) CC

Global cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden is high and rising, especially in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Focussing on 45 LMICs, we aimed to determine (1) the adult population’s median 10-year predicted CVD risk, including its variation within countries by socio-demographic char ... more

Delivery of cardiology services in Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: what should we expect after this pandemic?

Nganou-Gnindjio, C.N.; Temgoua, M.N.; Kuate, L.M. et al. (2021) CC

Background: COVID-19 is a global public health crisis that affects all sectors; studying the impact of this pandemic on the delivery of cardiology services in Africa is crucial as COVID-19-related cardiovascular complications may worsen the CVD burden in this already highly affected and resource-lim ... more

Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis and Treatment of Heart Failure in Diabetes

Park, J.J. Diabetes & Metabolism Journal (2021) CC

The cardiovascular disease continuum begins with risk factors such as diabetes mellitus (DM), progresses to vasculopathy and myocardial dysfunction, and finally ends with cardiovascular death. Diabetes is associated with a 2- to 4-fold increased risk for heart failure (HF). Moreover, HF patients wit ... more