Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Sept 28: The Department of Cardiology, Government Medical College, Jammu today observed World Heart Day, which was attended by Heads of different Departments and faculty members of GMC Jammu, Graduate, Post Graduates and paramedical staff of the CCU Cath Lab. Theme of this year’s World Heart Day was “Take the road to a Healthy Heart”.
A seminar was organised regarding CAD in Indians by Dr Sushil Sharma, HoD Cardiology, GMC Jammu.
Addressing the seminar, Dr Sharma said 17.3 million lives were lost per year due to cardiovascular disease (CVD), which comprised of heart disease and stroke, is the number one killer worldwide. It claimed more than the total deaths (3.86 million deaths per year) due to malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis put together.
In fact, he said, the risk for heart disease is found to be higher in Indians than in US and Western Europe as India is already heading towards being the diabetic capital of the world. In India too, cardiovascular disease is the largest cause of mortality, leading to 1.8 – 2.1 million deaths annually, which is increasing at an alarming pace, Dr Sharma said.
He utilized the opportunity to address certain myths associated with heart diseases and the common risk factors of coronary artery disease are diabetes, hypertension, abnormal lipids, smoking, obesity, physical inactivity which can be modified.
However, he said, the other factors that cannot be controlled are family history, genetic and age. There are good numbers of steps that can be taken to avoid heart problems. Some of them are to control Diabetes, Blood pressure and lipid level, regular physical exercise, avoid smoking, balanced diet , reducing anxiety and mental stress.
Dr Sharma said: “It is a myth that cardiovascular disease mostly affects males. In fact, heart disease is the reason for 1 in 3 female deaths each year.
Dr Shashi Gupta, Principal Gmc, Jammu and Dr Mohan Lal senior cardiologist and former HoD of Cardiology, GMC Jammu spoke on the occasion about the CVD burden on the country and the emerging risk factors of CVD in India.
Follow our WhatsApp channel