Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is the third largest Institute of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. It is tasked with allocating about $3.6 billion in FY 2020 in tax revenue to advancing the understanding of the following issues: development and progression of disease, diagnosis of disease, treatment of disease, disease prevention, reduction of health care disparities within the American population, and advancing the effectiveness of the US medical system. NHLBI's Director is Gary H. Gibbons (2012–present).
The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke. They are known for publishing guidelines on cardiovascular disease and prevention, standards on basic life support, advanced cardiac life support (ACLS), pediatric advanced life support (PALS), and in 2014 issued the first guidelines for preventing strokes in women. The American Heart Association is also known for operating a number of highly visible public service campaigns starting in the 1970s, and also operates several fundraising events.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy and raising awareness.
Sudarshan (Sudi) Devanesen, CM, is a family medicine physician and educator, public health activist, and member of the Order of Canada. He is known for his role in preventing heart disease in Canadian South Asians.
United OneHeart Foundation is a non-profit research and development organisation. Its stated mission is as a non-profit organisation to help people to improve the quality of life by fostering improvements in medicine with the aim of decreasing impact of cardiovascular diseases with focus on India and South Asia.
Obesity in India has reached epidemic proportions in the 21st century, with morbid obesity affecting 5% of the country's population. India is following a trend of other developing countries that are steadily becoming more obese. Unhealthy, processed food has become much more accessible following India's continued integration in global food markets. This, combined with rising middle class incomes, is increasing the average caloric intake per individual among middle class and high income households. Obesity is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and NGOs such as the Indian Heart Association have been raising awareness about this issue.
Cardiac disease in China is on the rise. Though incidences of heart disease have increased faster in the city than in the countryside, rural morbidity and mortality rates are now on the rise as well. Health statistics shows that the ischemic heart disease mortality rate in rural China has approximately doubled since 1988.
Pankaj Sharma is a British professor of Clinical Neurology at Royal Holloway College, University of London, and consultant neurologist at Imperial College London. He is director of the Institute of Cardiovascular Research at Royal Holloway (ICR2UL), and formerly head of the Imperial College Cerebrovascular Research Unit (ICCRU) at Imperial College London. His main interest is in identifying genes for stroke, particularly in those of South Asian heritage.
Gundu Hirisave Rama Rao is an Indian scientist, entrepreneur and Emeritus Professor at the Academic Health Center, University of Minnesota in the United States. He and Professor John Eaton visited India in 1981 under a National Science Foundation sponsorship, to explore opportunities for collaborative research projects. They visited medical institutions from Kashmir in the north to Trivandrum in the south. He again visited India during 1990–93, as a professor and a senior consultant for the government of India under a United Nations Development Program (UNDP) called TOKTEN sponsored by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He is a member of the Minneapolis University Rotary ClubArchived 29 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine. He is listed as a Senior Fulbright Scholar in the Roster. He is an active member of Rotary E-Club, RI.3190, Bangalore, India.
Dasari Prasada Rao is an Indian Cardiothoracic surgeon. He was noteworthy for introducing the first open heart surgery to the state of Andhra Pradesh in India and for pioneering advanced medical care at affordable costs. Dasari Prasada Rao has won numerous awards including in 2001 the Padma Shri award, a Civilian award bestowed by the Government of India.
The Electrophysiology and Heart Modeling Institute, is one of six French university hospital institutions created in 2011 as part of the Investments for the future program to boost medical research and innovation.
Arun Garg is an Indo-Canadian physician in the province of British Columbia who is recognized for contributing linkages between Canada and India, his country of origin.
Balram Bhargava is an Indian physician scientist, cardiologist, medical educationist, and innovator. He is currently serving as the Chief of Cardiothoracic Centre, AIIMS. He is the former Director General at the Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi and secretary of the Department of Health Research; a division under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Ashok Seth is an Indian interventional cardiologist, credited with the performance of over 50,000 angiograms and 20,000 angioplasties, which has been included in the Limca Book of Records, a book for achievements and records from an Indian perspective. He is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London, Edinburgh and Ireland and serves as the chief cardiologist, holding the chairs of the department of cardiovascular sciences and cardiology council at the Fortis Healthcare. Seth, a recipient of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, was honored by the Government of India with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri, in 2003, followed by Padma Bhushan, the third highest Indian civilian award, in 2015.
Nagarur Gopinath was an Indian surgeon and one of the pioneers of cardiothoracic surgery in India. He is credited with the first successful performance of open heart surgery in India which he performed in 1962. He served as the honorary surgeon to two Presidents of India and was a recipient of the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri in 1974 and Dr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest Indian medical award in 1978 from the Government of India.
Rahul Potluri is a British physician, researcher and founder of ACALM Study Unit, United Kingdom (UK). His clinical epidemiology research unit is one of the first to use big data in healthcare and medical research. His work has shown for the first time a link between high cholesterol and breast cancer. Further research has suggested the role of cholesterol and possibly statins improving the mortality in patients with breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and bowel cancer. Other prominent studies include health services research evaluating differences in death rates from weekend admission and discharge from UK hospitals, ethnic variations and the interplay between cardiovascular disease and mental health.
Kewal Kishan Talwar is an Indian cardiologist, medical academic and writer, and a former chairman of the Medical Council of India. He is a former director of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and is reported to have performed the first implantation of Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy in South Asia. He is also credited with the introduction of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in India. He is a recipient of several honours including B. C. Roy Award, the highest Indian award in the medical category. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 2006, for his contributions to medicine. Presently Dr. Talwar is working in PSRI Hospital Sheikh Sarai, New Delhi as the chairman of Cardiac Sciences
The IACC, a non-profit organisation for non invasive cardiologists, was founded in 2008 by Dr. Rajesh Rajan, 4 Padma Shri doctors, Mohammed Shafiq and five other colleagues from Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences. Based in Kerala, this association works towards the prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) and the reduction of cardiovascular mortality in rural India.
