CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE : AN EMERGING EPIDEMIC IN NEPAL

Abstract

ABSTRACT Cardiovascular disease is the commonest cause of death globally and is the major contributor to the burden of premature mortality and morbidity. Coronary artery disease ( CAD) is greatest killer of mankind. Coronary artery disease in western industrialized countries show a declining trend. However developing countries have shown an alarming increase. The identification of major risk factors and effective control of them through population based strategies of prevention were mainly responsible for this decline.A few cases of acute myocardial infarction were seen in Kathmandu ,Nepal in 1950 and in the sixties the incidence started rising rapidly. In a study between 1960-1968 a total of 150 cases were reported with myocardial infarction in Kathmandu , Nepal. Although national datas for incidence and prevalence on CAD in Nepal is not available, hospital based datas on admission pattern in different hospitals of Kathmandu, capital city of Nepal show 40 fold increase in incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in last 30 years. Prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) estimated from these figures of AMI cases indicate that 5 % of adult population in Kathmandu suffer from CAD. Hence, Coronary artery disease is emerging as epidemic in Kathmandu, Nepal. Key Words: Coronary artery disease (CAD), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), Epidemic.