Azernews.Az

By Aynur Huseynova

The heart is the body's engine room, responsible for pumping life-sustaining blood via a 60,000-mile-long (97,000-kilometer-long) network of vessels. The organ works ceaselessly, beating 100,000 times a day, 40 million times a year -- in total clocking up three billion heartbeats over an average lifetime. It keeps the body freshly supplied with oxygen and nutrients, while clearing away harmful waste matter.

About the size of its owner's clenched fist, the organ sits in the middle of the chest, behind the breastbone and between the lungs, in a moistened chamber that is protected all round by the rib cage. It's made up of a special kind of muscle (cardiac muscle) that works involuntarily, so we don't have to think about it. The heart speeds up or slows down automatically in response to nerve signals from the brain that tells it how much the body is being exerted. Normally the heart contracts and relaxes between 70 and 80 times per minute, each heartbeat filling the four chambers inside with a fresh round of blood.

Since the heart lies at the center of the blood delivery system, it is also central to life. Blood both supplies oxygen from the lungs to the other organs and tissues and removes carbon dioxide to the lungs, where the gas is breathed out. Blood also distributes nourishment from the digestive system and hormones from glands. Likewise, our immune system cells travel in the bloodstream, seeking out infection, and blood takes the body's waste products to the kidneys and liver to be sorted out and trashed.

Given the heart's many essential functions, it seems wise to take care of it. Yet heart disease has risen steadily over the last century, especially in industrialized countries, due largely to changes in diet and lifestyle. It has become the leading cause of death for both men and women. Because of vitality of this disease World Heart Day has been celebrated annually since 1999. From 2011, World Heart Day is celebrated every September 29. The aim of this day is to gather people all over the world and focus attention on this important organ. National activities such as public talks and screenings, walks and runs, concerts or sporting events are organized worldwide by members and partners of the World Heart Federation. WHF says that at least 80% of premature deaths from heart disease and stroke could be avoided if the main risk factors, tobacco, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity, are controlled.

There are many risk factors associated with coronary heart disease and stroke. Some risk factors such as family history, ethnicity and age, cannot be changed. Other risk factors that can be treated or changed include tobacco exposure, high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes, unhealthy diets, and harmful use of alcohol. Depression also may be a potential risk factor for subsequent cardiac death. The impact of depression on cardiac mortality has been suggested to depend on cardiac disease status, and to be stronger among cardiac patients.

Azerbaijan is one of the countries with high mortality rates of CVD for both men and women. Reasons are different, but unhealthy nutrition and inactive lifestyle are the most likely contributors. As a special feature of this region, people consume fatty and spicy foods every day. Besides, a passive lifestyle without exercise also triggers heart disease. Often, there are no symptoms of the underlying disease of the blood vessels. A heart attack or stroke may be the first warning of underlying disease. Symptoms of a heart attack include pain or discomfort in the centre of the chest; pain or discomfort in the arms, the left shoulder, elbows, jaw, or back.

In addition, the person may experience difficulty in breathing or shortness of breath; feeling sick or vomiting; feeling light-headed or faint; breaking into a cold sweat; and becoming pale. Women are more likely to have shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and back or jaw pain.

In Azerbaijan people commonly die from cardiovascular disease due to late intervention. A lot of people neglect their routine check-up and ignore pains in the heart. Because they are unaware of the complication of the situation and they tend to seek medical aid at the late stage of the disease that is almost in vain.

"The old stereotype of cardiovascular diseases affecting only stressed, overweight middle-aged men in developed countries no longer applies," said Dr Robert Beaglehole, WHO Director of Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion.

"Today, men, women and children are at risk and 80% of the burden is in low- and middle-income countries. Heart disease and stroke not only take lives, but also cause an enormous economic burden."

Heart disease treatments vary deeply. A patient may need lifestyle changes, medication, surgery or other medical procedures as part of his/her treatment. Cessation of tobacco use, reduction of salt in the diet, consuming fruits and vegetables, regular physical activity and avoiding harmful use of alcohol have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. The cardiovascular risk can also be reduced by preventing or treating hypertension, diabetes and raised blood lipids.

Policies that create conducive environments for making healthy choices affordable and available are essential for motivating people to adopt and sustain healthy behavior.

In Azerbaijan people with heart disease commonly prefer to solve the problem via medicine. They choose surgical intervention at the end-stage of the disease. Often people in Azerbaijan go abroad for surgery. The main countries for CVD operations are Turkey and Iran. There are enough reasons for this. First of all, it costs less than in the home country. Because when they consider the fees charged in foreign hospitals it really seems very reasonable. Exchange rate of the manat is a reason. Patients pay 1.5 or even 2 times less for CVD surgery actually.

The second reason why patients prefer foreign hospitals is RELIANCE. They have confidence in foreign doctors and often do not hesitate to have the surgery done.

In the last 10 years CVD surgery has made significant progress in Azerbaijan. Native doctors who study abroad with the support of the government return home and begin to work hard in order to contribute to the development of this important medical field. It seems that after a few years people will not go abroad for CVD surgical operations and they will confidently prefer native doctors.

CVDs are projected to remain the single leading cause of death in Azerbaijan. Mortality due to cardiovascular disease and diabets was 1,238 per 100,000 people in 2008 (Males 655, females 583).

In neighboring countries (2008), for example, in Iran, it was 769 per 100,000 people (males 421, females 348), in Turkey it was 725 per 100,000 (males 403, females 322), in Armenia 1,026 per 100,000 people (males 707, females 388).

Increasing urbanization threatens the current and future heart health of children and the amount of the world population living in urban areas is increasing. According to the World Health Organization, heart disease and stroke kill some 17 million people a year, which is almost one-third of all deaths globally. By 2020, heart disease and stroke will become the leading cause of both death and disability worldwide, with the number of fatalities projected to increase to over 20 million a year and by 2030 to over 24 million a year.