ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most widespread cause of death in many countries all over the world. Alarming statistics have been presented by the World Health Organization (WHO) concerning mortality rates due to CVDs. It has been estimated that worldwide, approximately 17 million people die every year as a result of CVDs. This accounts for 30% of deaths with 80% of the cases in developing nations. Demographicwise, in 2002, Russia had the highest death rate from CVD followed by Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, and Poland (Department of Health and Welfare, 2002). Japan has the lowest death rate from CVD followed by France, with Canada being the third lowest. In 2004, Australia was found to have the sixth lowest death rate but with rates up to 1.5 times that of Japan.
