Stroke and heart attack cluster of unhealthy traits: Dr Sushil

HoD Cardiology Dr Sushil Sharma examining patients at Birpur on Sunday.
HoD Cardiology Dr Sushil Sharma examining patients at Birpur on Sunday.

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Aug 25: As whole of communities particularly those from rural areas are indulging in unhealthy eating practices leading to poor cardiovascular health, Head Department of Cardiology GMCH Jammu Dr Sushil Sharma held a day long cardiac awareness cum health check up camp at Shri Datta Ranpat Ji Devstan, Birpur district Samba to educate people to shred sedentary lifestyle and adopt cardio protective food practices for a better and promising future.
While interacting with the people, Dr Sushil stated that Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) are well established as leading contributors to the burden of diseases in the developing countries, as well as the developed world. An estimated 29.2% of total global deaths, result from the various forms of CVDs, many of which are preventable by action on the major primary risk factors such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and smoking. Eight risk factors of CVDs account for 61% of cardiovascular deaths and they include alcohol use, tobacco use, high blood pressure, high body mass index/adiposity, high blood cholesterol and glucose, low fruit and vegetable intake, and physical inactivity.
He elaborated that metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors, the level of each individual component does not have to be severely raised. In fact, most people live with slightly raised levels for many years before having symptoms that lead them to seek health care, Some studies show that middle-aged adults with metabolic syndrome had a heart attack or stroke 2.3 years earlier than those without the collection of unhealthy traits. Blood pressure is the hazardous component highlighting the value of keeping it under control. There is a underline need for importance of early detection of risk factors through health screening programs so that preventive actions can be taken to prevent heart attack, stroke and premature death. As a golden rule , even if you feel well, check your blood pressure every year, avoid smoking, keep an eye on your waist circumference and last, but definitely not least, be physically active every day, he added.
Dr Sharma said that Small changes in the food eating habits and lifestyle can lead to a drastic improvement in the cardiac health of society as a whole thereby reducing the morbidity and mortality and improve quality of life .There are also huge political, economic and environmental challenges to changing the food system, not least the capacity of governments to implement change. Yet change is possible. It can start with a wider understanding of how the modern food system shapes dietary patterns and eating behaviors, as supported by education that makes clear the interrelationship between food systems, food environments, diets and adverse public health and environmental outcomes, and the potential for better diets to lead to major improvements in public health and environmental sustainability, he added.
Management Committee of the Devstan Sukhdev Singh, Dawarka Nath , Sohan Lal Sharma , Prem Sharma , Kartik Sharma , Ajit Singh , Ajay Sharma and Gautam Sharma appreciated the efforts of Dr Sushil and his team for conducting cardiac awareness cum health check up camp in their area and expressed their heartfelt gratitude.
Others who were part of this camp include Dr Venkatesh Yellupu. Paramedics and Volunteers include Kamal Sharma, Raghav Rajput, Ranjeet Singh, Amnish Dutta, Rahul Sharma, Rohit Nayyar, Mukesh Sharma, Maninder Singh, Jatin Bhasin, Rahul Vaid, Makhan Sharma, Vikas Kumar and Nirvair Singh Bali.