ABSTRACT
Diseases of the heart and blood vessels are major sources of mortality, morbidity, loss of function, poor quality of life, and costs resulting from health care expenditures and reduced productivity. The burden of cardiovascular diseases is widely distributed around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that it is responsible for 10% of disability-adjusted life years lost in low-and middle-income countries, and 18% in high-income countries. Once considered primarily a problem in industrialized nations, heart disease is on the rise in developing and transitional countries, partly as a result of increasing longevity, urbanization, and lifestyle changes (WHO, 2010).
