You may be aware that Diabetes Mellitus is a disorder of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism that results in high blood glucose which if uncontrolled would result in long-term damage to the tissues including vascular damage and multi-organ dysfunction.<\/p>\n
Diabetes affects an estimated 8-10% of South Africa’s population, much of it being men – to the point where diabetic socks for men<\/a> are a common household purchase in families. Worldwide, the number of people affected by this disease is increasing dramatically and according to the latest WHO available data which was published in April 2011, Diabetes Mellitus Deaths in South Africa reached 19,530 or 3.27% of total deaths making the age-adjusted Death Rate to be 66.67 per 100,000 of population every year and ranking South Africa the 18th country in the world with the highest number of deaths from Diabetes Mellitus.<\/p>\n Hypertensive heart disease refers to heart conditions caused by high blood pressure (hypertension). It\u2019s not a single disease, but rather, a number of different heart disorders all caused by the same thing: the heart working under increased pressure. Hypertensive heart disease includes, among other conditions, heart failure, thickening of the heart muscle, and coronary artery disease.<\/p>\n About 37 people die per day because of heart failure alone in South Africa and in general, Hypertensive Heart Disease is responsible for over 20,000 deaths per year in South Africa.<\/p>\n See Also: 30+ Hilarious Pictures that Show How\u00a0South Africa Handles Serious Problems<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Diarrhea is one of the most deadly\u00a0diseases in South Africa that is often neglected. It is a symptom of infections caused by various bacterial, viral and parasitic organisms which mostly results from contaminated food\u00a0and water sources and is usually\u00a0more common when there is a\u00a0shortage of clean water for drinking, cooking and\u00a0cleaning.<\/p>\n While children especially those under 5 years are more susceptible, in more recent times, there has been an overall increase in the number of adult deaths linked to diarrhea diseases. Across the globe, diarrhea kills over 2 million people annually, most of which occur in Africa and Asia. In South Africa, diarrhea diseases\u00a0claim over 80 lives per 100,000 of the population resulting in total death in excess of 30,000 deaths per year.<\/p>\n Respiratory tract infections are responsible for over 2% of all deaths in South Africa. There are two major types of lower respiratory infections: bronchitis and pneumonia. Some of the easily recognizable symptoms of these infections include a runny nose and sneezing, headache, and sore throat. Symptoms may include fever in more severe cases of pneumonia.<\/p>\n Tuberculosis; a disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis is much more wide-spread than you think. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one-in-three of the world’s 7 billion population is at this moment infected with Tuberculosis and that there is a new TB infection (someone getting newly infected) in the world every single second that passes which is same as saying that there are 86,400 new TB infections per day much of which again happens in Sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n However, the good news is that being infected does not mean that the disease is going to be established to the point of being symptomatic as the individual would usually manifest\u00a0if there is any other debilitating illness or condition that suppresses the immunity like HIV\/AIDS, malnutrition and some other chronic (long-standing diseases) like poorly managed diabetes, malnutrition etc.<\/p>\n Back in 2012, there were around 1.3 million TB-related deaths worldwide most of which occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, and other developing countries. South Africa is one of the countries with the highest incidence\u00a0of TB. The World Health Organisation statistics gave an estimated incidence of 500,000 existing cases of active TB in 2011 meaning that about 1% of the population of about 50 million have an active TB every\u00a0year which makes South Africa the country with the 3rd highest incidence in the world after\u00a0India and China, and the incidence has increased by 300% over the past 15 years.<\/p>\n The latest available report from\u00a0WHO gives a figure of 25,000 deaths in South Africa resulting from TB in 2011 for those who were considered to have died of TB alone<\/a>\u00a0and not in connection with other diseases like HIV which is more common. The\u00a0South African death notifications register in its causes of death report gives a figure of 62,827 for 2010 which is 11.6% of the number of people who have\u00a0died, and this includes people who also had HIV infection as well as TB at the time of death.<\/p>\n Cerebrovascular disease may sound too over decorated for a common medical condition commonly known as stroke which occurs when there is a loss of blood supply to a part of the brain which could either result from blockage or rupture of a blood vessel commonly known as Ischaemic or Haemorrhagic stroke respectively.<\/p>\n If blood flow is interrupted for longer than a few minutes, the brain cells begin to suffer from irreparable damage which could result in permanent damage. According to The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa<\/a>,\u00a0SA has one of the highest rates of hypertension worldwide with about 6.3 million people living with high blood pressure\u00a0making them more susceptible to life-threatening diseases like stroke and heart disease.<\/p>\n Statistics show that in South Africa, there are about 240 strokes occurring every day. This implies that 10 people will have a stroke every single hour.\u00a0Below is a\u00a0picture of the brain of a stroke survivor (apologies if it is upsetting).<\/p>\n Ischemia means “reduced blood supply” so Ischaemic heart disease is a disease that is characterized by the reduction of blood supply to the heart. The heart muscles receive blood supply from the only\u00a0specific group of arteries called\u00a0coronary arteries so there is no alternative blood supply to the heart muscles meaning that\u00a0a blockage in the coronary arteries reduces the supply of blood to the heart muscles predisposing the cells to damage and death from lack of oxygen and nutrients.<\/p>\n![\"Diabetes](\"https:\/\/buzzsouthafrica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Diabetes-Mellitus.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n7. Hypertensive Heart Disease<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n6. Diarrhea Diseases<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n5. Lower Respiratory Tract Infections<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n4. Tuberculosis (TB)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n3. Cerebrovascular Disease\/Accident (Stroke)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n2. Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD)<\/strong><\/h3>\n