Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a disease of the heart and blood vessels comprising [1], coronary heart disease (e.g. coronary artery disease and ischemic heart disease), peripheral arterial disease and stroke (American Heart Association, 2006) [2]. CVD remains a major cause of morbidity and a leading contributor to mortality worldwide [3], with its mortality cutting across age, gender and socio-economic background [4]. CVD claims more lives annually than all forms of cancers [5]. It is estimated that, about 60% of deaths in the world are caused by non-communicable diseases and about 17 million persons die annually from heart diseases, and the figure is projected to rise to 82 million in 2020 [6,7]. Developing countries now face the double menace of prevalent infectious diseases and increasing CVD, with projected epidemic proportions in the near future. CVD has become the number-one cause of death in the developing world, causing twice as many deaths as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis combined. This epidemic has the potential to place a large