Cardiovascular disease risk profiling in Africa: environmental pollutants are not on the agenda.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) cause significant morbidity and mortality in the world. It is known that between 1990 and 2020, the proportion of worldwide deaths from CVD will increase from 28 to 31.5 % and yet the risk factors and etiology are not completely known. WHO has declared that pollution is one of the top 10 causes of death in the world. Environmental pollutants may therefore provide some of the missing/unknown risk factors of CVD. Studies done in USA and Europe have demonstrated that environmental pollutants can cause induction, progression and severity of CVD and increase the morbidity and mortality of traditional CVD risk factors. These toxicants lead to pulmonary and systemic inflammatory responses, arterial vasoconstriction, enhanced coagulation/thrombosis, arrhythmias, atherosclerosis, hypertension and coronary artery disease. There is now considerable evidence that Africa has a significant share of the world's environmental pollution, making it vulnerable to all associated CVDs. This review presents new facts and direction for tackling CVD in Africa. African countries must now take a cue from USA to Europe and consider environmental pollutants as one of the risk factors of CVDs.