‘Unhealthy food, smoking cause heart diseases’

LAHORE
Cardiologists and nutritional experts have termed unhealthy food, lack of physical activity, smoking, diabetes, environment change and other environmental hazards major causes of heart diseases, while lack of sufficient allocation of resources by the government is contributing to the rapid spread of cardiac diseases in the country.
“People must bring changes in their lifestyles by adopting regular exercise, inclusion of fresh fruits, juices and vegetables in diet plan, quitting smoking and undergoing regular medical checkups to avoid heart diseases,” advised the cardiology and nutritional experts while speaking at a seminar on “Heart Diseases and Our Environment” held in connection with World Heart Day under the aegis of Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Memorial Society (Jang Group of Newspapers) in collaboration with Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd and Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) here at a local hotel on Monday. A large number of people from all walks of life were present.
Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) Chief Executive Prof Dr Nadeem Hayat Malik highlighted cardiac diseases, causes, effects and preventive measures. He said a number of deaths were being reported due to a cardiovascular disease. He said the disease can be referred to different heart or blood vessel problems, a build-up of fatty plaques in human arteries. Plaque build-up thickens and stiffens artery walls, which can inhibit blood flow through human arteries to the organs and tissues. He said that sudden death due to cardiac arrest was the most dangerous among all the heart-related diseases.
He mentioned the risk factors of heart-related diseases including smoking, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, diabetes, excessive use of alcohol or caffeine, obesity, stress, excessive use of salt-sodium intake, adulterated food and others. “Our environment was also a major cause of such disease,” he said. He said around 17.3 million people died every year throughout the

world due to heart-related diseases. “It is gradually becoming the number one killer disease,” he said, adding around 80 per cent of total deaths occurred due to this disease worldwide. “Waist over 36 inches in men and 30 inches in women is dangerous,” he explained.
Prof Nadeem Hayat Malik said the use of vegetables and minimum use of meat could help in controlling blood pressure and diabetes, which were essential to avoid heart disease. He said rapid urbanization, poverty and lack of awareness were causing increase in heart diseases in Asia in comparison to other continents. “The ratio of heart diseases in developing countries, including Pakistan, is the highest in the world,” he said.
“Early diagnosis helps in better treatment of heart diseases,” he said, adding symptoms of heart diseases included interruption in breathing, pain in lower jaw, stomach and chest, heavy sweat, pale complexion, etc. He said hospitalization within one hour of heart attack enhanced chances of a survival by up to 80 percent.
Head of Cardiology Department at PIC Prof Dr Shahid Ameen said the prevalence of heart diseases was increasing in Pakistan which was affecting the young male and female as well as children. “Prevention is the best remedy against the heart diseases, which otherwise are enormously increasing in Pakistan,” he said, adding every diabetic would also suffer from heart disease sooner or later. However, he said, control of sugar and blood pressure, abstinence in food intake, regular exercise and use of medicines as prescribed by the physician could help control a lot of complications of heart ailments.
Prof Shahid Ameen said ischemic heart disease (IHD) was most common heart disease. He said smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, lack of physical activity, stress and anxiety were risk factors of the coronary heart disease. He said chest pain radiating from left arm, chest tightness, shortness of breath, nausea, anxiety, sweating, vomiting and pallor (pale skin) were some of the symptoms of angina.
Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, Head of Cardiology Prof Dr Ambar Malik said the ratio of deaths due to heart diseases was high in women. She said people were forced to take adulterated food due to lack of government’s check on provision of food to the public. “Cigarettes were cheaper than medicines,” she said, adding that the people’s lack of ability to bear the cost of treatment was also a major social and economic problem, which was not helping in the control of heart diseases at all.
She said smoking trend was not high in men only but a large number of women were also falling to this bad habit. She called for launching an aggressive awareness campaign against heart diseases.
Dr Farzeen Malik, a nutritionist, stressed the need to save the younger generation from fast food and bring them back to homemade food to avoid heart and other diseases, adding that brown sugar, canola oil, olive oil, etc., should be used. Dr Farzeen Malik said people should have a forty-minute exercise daily to avoid heart diseases. “Majority of people are suffering from this disease only because of not having enough physical activity,” she said, adding proper healthy food and exercise were necessary for a healthy heart. She said people should focus on eating more fruits and vegetables to avoid heart diseases.
Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd representative Amir Yaqoob Mir said the World Heart Day is observed annually in September to make people aware about heart disease. He said Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd always supported such kind of initiatives.
MKRMS Chairman Wasif Nagi hosted the seminar, while Ali Imran, Kiran Butt and Shehzad Rauf assisted him.