Experts: More Kenyans likely to get heart diseases

What you need to know:

  • Three in 1,000 people die from heart illnesses, while cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks are seen as the number-one cause of death in adults over 30.
  • The leading causes of the spike, include unhealthy diets, inadequate physical activity, harmful use of alcohol, tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.

More Kenyans are likely to suffer from heart attacks and related diseases over the years, health experts have warned.

And as heart disease trends shift to the younger generations, they are asking for greater awareness and having healthy diets to reduce the numbers.

More young people are being diagnosed with heart illnesses; 60 per cent of patients who go to hospital with heart attacks are aged 20 to 30.

Three in 1,000 people die from heart illnesses, while cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks are seen as the number-one cause of death in adults over 30.

Nairobi-based cardiologist Jelian Mohamed said many do not know the symptoms.

“Patients are not aware of simple symptoms of things like heart attacks,” said Dr Mohamed.

“Many tend to ignore the simple tenets of staying healthy, hence the increase in cases.”

The leading causes of the spike, include unhealthy diets, inadequate physical activity, harmful use of alcohol, tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke.

The 2015 Steps Survey shows more than five million Kenyans consume tobacco; nine million drink alcohol, a million of them daily; three million do not engage in the recommended amount of physical activity; 40 million consume an unhealthy diet; and 24 million have never measured their blood pressure.

Speaking at World Health Day celebrations on Thursday, Dr Izaak Odongo, head of curative and rehabilitative services in the Ministry of Health, warned of an imminent epidemic of heart failure among young Kenyans, even as the World Heart Federation called for action to prevent 80 per cent of premature deaths from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

CVDs is a general term for conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels, usually associated with a build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries (atherosclerosis) and an increased risk of blood clots.

They kill 17.5 million people yearly, causing $84 billion (Sh8.4 trillion) in economic losses. In Kenya, the diseases claim about 100,000 lives.

“This calls for public awareness campaigns and interventions to reduce the risk factors and the burden of cardiovascular diseases,” Dr Odongo added.

The WHF launched a short quiz — Heart IQ test — which checks for some of the main risk factors for heart disease and stroke such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.

WHF chief executive Johanna Ralston said: “Knowing the risk factors that increase your chances of having a heart attack or stroke is vital.”