Warnings of increasing heart disease in Asia

William Atkins
Wednesday, 01 October 2008 21:00

Science - Health

Dr. Gao reported within his talk that 100 million people in China are at risk from heart disease.

He added that one person dies from heart disease in China every fifteen seconds.

Dr. Gao commented within The Age article that "(Disease) rates are really rocketing up ... but the understanding of the problem is painfully low among the people on the ground.”

He added, “So many people are living risky lifestyles but if you ask them whether they're in danger of cardiovascular problems they say no."

Heart disease is a general term for a variety of different diseases that affect the heart, such as coronary heart disease (accumulation of plaque on the walls of arteries), cartiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle), and cardiovascular disease (disease of the heart and vein and artery system).

Learn more about heart disease from the American Heart Association.