Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 28th February, 2011: Local medical experts have said that one in two deaths in the UAE are caused by cardiovascular diseases and that the first cardio event (strike) occurs at around 45,  which is 10 to 15 years earlier than the international average of 55 to 60.

The statistics are alarming, and reflects on the general lack of awareness of the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases including diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, smoking and wrong lifestyles. 

Dr Michael Khouri, Cardiologist, Khalifa Hospital, Abu Dhabi Healthcare Authority (HAAD), was among those who addressed a press conference to announce that the Gulf Ministries of Health had approved ROSUVASTATIN (Chemical Name of the medicine), which reduces the risk of stroke, and myocardial infarction (heart attack), following the approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EU Health Authorities.

Dr. Khouri said: “Nearly 20 percent of the heart patients coming to Khalifa Hospital were unaware that they had diabetes or hypertension or high cholesterol, thus exposing them to cardiovascular diseases. There was lack of medical research in the UAE because the general movement of people due to temporary nature of jobs, as these studies are carried out over a period of time. Like in Asia and North Africa, smoking is prevalent in the UAE and many people suffer from diabetes and hypertension.”

Dr. Azan Binbrek of Cardiology Department, Rashid Hospital in Dubai said: “We should play an active role in the community by promoting health awareness about diseases and their prevention, such as cardiovascular diseases. We primarily ask our patients to lose weight, do regular exercise and stop smoking. UAE still has a long way to go in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases because this is multi disciplinary where it is the joint responsibility of the government and media and schools have a role to play in planting healthy lifestyle for the kids and keep junk food out of their reach and train them to have exercise as part of their daily lives.”

Speaking about the highest factors for cardiovascular diseases, Dr Binbrek said that the UAE is the second in the world in diabetes where around 25 per cent of people in the UAE are diabetic, 25 per cent have high blood pressure and 20-25 percent have high cholesterol not to mention smoking that is dramatically and worryingly increasing amongst teenagers in the age of 15 to 18, figures that were not so high in the past years.

Dr. Binbrek added: “The UAE has a very high rate of heart attacks, strokes and heart failure due to the huge lifestyle changes, and we must try to prevent these diseases.”

Dr. Khouri said that while in the West, diabetes has 12 to 15 percent penetration, in the Gulf it is more than 30 percent. He added that that 45 to 50 percent who have cardiovascular risk factors reach the target of lowering their diabetes or blood pressure or cholesterol to the required average in the UAE, thus preventing cardiovascular diseases.”

Based on JUPITER study and recent EU Health Authorities approval, ROSUVASTATIN is now additionally indicated for : “Prevention of major cardiovascular events in patients who are estimated to have a high risk for a first cardiovascular event [Framingham risk score >20% or SCORE risk >5%], as an adjunct to correction of other risk factors”

Dr. Khouri pointed out that the first cardio-event for UAE patients occurs at the age of 45, which is 10 to 15 years earlier than the international average of 55 to 60 years. In the West, there are better screening facilities and greater awareness of how to prevent heart diseases by combating the risk factors.”

Dr. Jacques Genest MD FRCP(C), Professor, Faculty of Medicine, added: “The JUPITER trial was a landmark study which addressed the critical roles of inflammation and cholesterol in cardiovascular disease. In JUPITER, apparently healthy patients with an elevated blood level of the inflammation biomarker high sensitivity C-Reactive protein (hsCRP), in whom current treatment guidelines would not target for cholesterol lowering therapies were given rosuvastatin 20 mg or a placebo -an inactive compound. After an average of two years on trial, patients on rosuvastatin had 44% less major cardiovascular events than those given a placebo. Further analysis of the JUPITER trial showed that rosuvastatin 20 mg is well tolerated, is safe and is effective in decreasing cardiovascular disease. JUPITER joins a list of 28 major clinical studies of statins (the name given to the class of drugs that include rosuvastatin) that show that lowering blood cholesterol levels, especially the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is
an important therapy for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. This important information has now included in major guidelines for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease.”

The symposium urged for greater efforts toward prevention of cardio events instead of mere treatment. However, it called for more coronary angiography treatments; with a 90 percent of those who had a first stroke in the UAE are not having another one.

The symposium said that more intensive heart-related campaigns are needed to raise awareness and adopt preventive steps, including medication.

The call comes at a time when the Gulf Ministries of Health have recently granted approval to a new indication for ROSUVASTATIN following USA FDA and EU health authorities’ approval. NB: ROSUVASTATIN CALCIUM is the chemical name of the drug.

ROSUVASTATIN is a lipid lowering drug that belongs to a class known as statins that reduce cholesterol in blood. It has already been approved and widely used in Gulf region for several years. The new indication for ROSUVASTATIN is to reduce risk of stroke, heart attack and revascularization procedures in individuals without evident heart disease but with increased risk of cardiovascular disease based on certain indicators. Previously such patients were not eligible for such treatment.

The Gulf Ministries of Health approvals were based on EU Health Authorities approval following the findings of a landmark JUPITER (Justification for the Use of statins in Primary prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin) study which evaluated the impact of ROSUVASTATIN 20 mg on reducing major cardiovascular (CV) events in a previously unstudied population. In JUPITER, ROSUVASTATIN significantly reduced the relative risk of heart attack by 54% (p<0.001), stroke by 48% (p=0.002), and arterial revascularization by 46% (p<0.001) vs placebo.

“Not only is this approval a significant milestone for AstraZeneca, but it is also important for the patients who could now benefit from a new phase of therapy under this approved indication,” said Dr. Fadel Shaker, Medical Manager AstraZeneca Gulf. “This new indication adds to the significant body of evidence physicians use to evaluate ROSUVASTATIN as a treatment option.”

The major cardiovascular diseases include coronary heart disease (heart attacks), cerebrovascular disease (strokes), hypertension, heart failure and rheumatic heart disease.