By Shahd Alhamdan
JEDDAH — Half of the patients suffering from heart failure would die within five years of being diagnosed with the disease, according to a consultant in clinical pharmacy at King Abdulaziz University.
Dr. Kamal Alghalaini however said the most severe cases are expected to die in the first year itself. He added that the disease is similar to breast cancer and is treatable if detected early.
Alghalaini was speaking at a conference on “Closing the Gaps in Heart Failure across the Middle East & North Africa (MENA)” in Abu Dhabi recently.
High blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, obesity and smoking are some of the most common risk factors for heart failure.
According to research, there are around 400,000 heart failure patients in the Kingdom, and an estimated 46 percent of deaths are due to cardiovascular disease.
“Hypertension is a very common cause of Heart Failure. Unfortunately, the use of street drugs that is becoming widespread among our youth is a common cause of heart failure in young people,” said Dr. Waleed Al-Habeeb, president of the Saudi Heart Failure Group.
Al-Habeeb explained that there are less common causes, such as chemotherapy. Pregnancy can also sometimes lead to heart failure, he said.
He added that pregnancy as a cause of heart failure was not very common, but could happen and so it is advisable that pregnant women visit a doctor if they experience symptoms in their last trimester or after delivery.
“There are lots of classic symptoms that can show if someone has heart failure. Basically, heart failure means there is a weak heart that is not supplying enough blood to the body, so the result would be that the person would be weak, fatigued and get tired easily,” Al-Habeeb said.
He added that shortness of breath during exercise is also a symptom. He explained that well-treated diabetes, asking people to quit smoking and doing exercise can help reduce the risk of developing heart conditions and heart attacks.
The MENA region has one of the youngest populations suffering from heart failure globally, with the population in MENA developing heart failure 10 years younger than Western nations.
The conference, arranged by Novartis, brought together healthcare industry leaders, policy makers and heart failure experts from across the region to discuss the findings from “The MENA Heart Failure Roadmap”, an in-depth report conducted by The Health Policy Partnership.
The report assesses the key, unmet needs, barriers and opportunities for policy change that may reduce the morbidity and mortality for MENA heart failure patients.
