BACKGROUND The epidemiology of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains largely enigmatic. Major obstacles to our understanding of the condition include lack of reliable health statistics, particularly cause-specific mortality data, inadequate diagnostic capabilities, shortage of physicians and cardiologists, and misguided opinions. METHODS This review of the epidemio...

It is important to detect the problem of ischaemic heart disease at a manageable stage at which treatments could have beneficial effects. A positive exercise test in patients with known ischaemic heart disease is a risk factor for cardiac mortality and there is a need to devise treatment strategies that take into account different approaches to higher- and lower-risk patients with ischaemic hea...

It is thought that up to 50% of patients with cerebrovascular disease will have concurrent ischaemic heart disease. Dipyridamole co-formulated with aspirin has been shown to increase the relative reduction in risk of second stroke in patients with prior stroke/transient ischaemic attack beyond that obtaining with aspirin alone. We have sought to resolve the question of whether dipyridamole trea...

A comparison is made between mortality from ischaemic heart disease and the quality of drinking water in the cities of Brisbane and Melbourne. Mortality from ischaemic heart disease is found to be higher in Brisbane where drinking water is harder, than in Melbourne. Moreover, mortality from all causes is higher in Brisbane than in Melbourne.

OBJECTIVE To monitor trends in mortality and morbidity due to ischaemic heart disease and compare these with observed levels of risk factors from population surveys. DESIGN Analysis of trends in death rates from ischaemic heart disease in Iceland compared with expected rates computed from population surveys. Risk factor levels together with beta factors obtained from Cox's regression analysis...

Although the rise in ischaemic heart disease in England and Wales has been associated with increasing prosperity, mortality rates are highest in the least affluent areas. On division of the country into two hundred and twelve local authority areas a strong geographical relation was found between ischaemic heart disease mortality rates in 1968-78 and infant mortality in 1921-25. Of the twenty-fo...

OBJECTIVES To systematically identify and compare the concepts contained in outcome measures of clinical trials on chronic ischaemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and obstructive pulmonary disease, including asthma using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a reference. METHODS Randomized controlled trials between 1993 and 2003 were loca...

OBJECTIVE To assess the relation between reported physical activity and the risk of heart attacks in middle aged British men. DESIGN Prospective study of middle-aged men followed for a period of eight years (The British Regional Heart Study). SETTING One general practice in each of 24 British towns. PARTICIPANTS 7735 men aged 40-59 years at initial examination. END POINT Heart attacks (...

BACKGROUND In all 8353 women and 7058 men aged 45-64 took part in the Renfrew/Paisley survey in 1972-1976. They formed a prospective cohort study of a general population in the West of Scotland; an area with high ischaemic heart disease (IHD) mortality rates. The objective of this study was to investigate three indicators of pre-existing IHD and determine how they predicted subsequent IHD morta...