African Stroke Organization Conference 2022: Stroke in the Age of Emerging Challenges and Advances

The regulation of stroke volume, which is the amount of blood the heart pumps out during each heartbeat, is critical for maintaining a healthy circulatory system. Stroke volume is influenced by three main factors: preload, contractility, and afterload.
Preload refers to the degree of stretch on the heart before it contracts. It's analogous to the stretching of a rubber band; the more it's stretched, the more forcefully it snaps back. This concept is encapsulated in the Frank-Starling law of the...

Ischemic heart disease occurs when the heart's blood supply dwindles, causing an ominous lack of oxygen and nutrients. This deficiency, stemming from reduced or obstructed blood flow, spells danger, leading to heart muscle damage and dysfunction.
Atherosclerosis, the primary malefactor, orchestrates this dangerous condition. It manifests as the accumulation of fatty deposits, akin to insidious plaques, within arterial walls. As time elapses, these plaques metamorphose, hardening and...

Cardiac output (CO), the amount of blood the heart pumps per minute, is a parameter in cardiovascular physiology determined by stroke volume and heart rate. Stroke volume, the amount of blood pushed from one of the ventricles per heartbeat, is influenced by preload, afterload, and contractility.
Preload
Preload refers to the initial elongation of the cardiac myocytes before contraction and is related to the volume of blood filling the heart at the end of diastole, or end-diastolic volume. The...

The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Geneva. The WHO has many initiatives that center around health. Primarily, they lead global efforts to expand universal health coverage using science-based policies and programs. They are also responsible for shaping health research agendas and developing norms and standards.
The WHO provides expert team support, including funding, vaccines, testing, and treatment tools at the country level to fight...