CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE : AN EMERGING EPIDEMIC IN NEPAL

Abstract

ABSTRACTCardiovascular disease is the commonest cause of death globally and is the major contributor to the burdenof premature mortality and morbidity. Coronary artery disease ( CAD) is greatest killer of mankind. Coronaryartery disease in western industrialized countries show a declining trend. However developing countrieshave shown an alarming increase. The identification of major risk factors and effective control of themthrough population based strategies of prevention were mainly responsible for this decline.A few cases ofacute myocardial infarction were seen in Kathmandu ,Nepal in 1950 and in the sixties the incidence startedrising rapidly. In a study between 1960-1968 a total of 150 cases were reported with myocardial infarctionin Kathmandu , Nepal. Although national datas for incidence and prevalence on CAD in Nepal is notavailable, hospital based datas on admission pattern in different hospitals of Kathmandu, capital city ofNepal show 40 fold increase in incidence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in last 30 years. Prevalenceof coronary artery disease (CAD) estimated from these figures of AMI cases indicate that 5 % of adultpopulation 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.