Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 27: In order to educate the masses regarding the ever importance of religion and spirituality in preventing cardiovascular diseases, Head Department of Cardiology SSH Jammu Dr Sushil Sharma conducted a screening cum awareness camp organized by Makhan Shah Sewa Society and Gurudwara Parvandhan Committee at Gurudwara Singh Sabha Model town Digiana with a purpose to make people aware of this dimension of healthcare particularly with reference to cardiac ailments.
More than 250 people were screened; evaluated, diagnosed and free medicines were given as per the requirements.
While Interacting with the patients Dr Sushil stated that Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) currently account for one in three deaths worldwide .Around 80% of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bringing a double burden of diseases to health systems that are already overstretched by communicable diseases. The risk of developing CVDs is highly influenced by lifestyle-related factors such as a high consumption of unhealthy food, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and harmful use of alcohol. These disadvantageous health behaviors are becoming more prevalent in LMICs due to elevated exposures and limited preventive services.
He maintained that The Religious and spiritual affiliations may be an underlying factor for CVD risk variations. Affiliations play an important role and these beliefs are known to shape one’s view of the world and behavioral patterns and therefore have potential to both positively and negatively affect one’s health .Positive aspects include encouragement to live healthily, provision of mechanisms to regulate stress, and contribution to building a social support network .This could be the result of discouragement of alcohol consumption or encouragement by religious leaders to be physically active .On the contrary, un favorable interactions with fellow members and religious doubts or discontent can induce increased psychological stress levels, which is a known risk factor for CVDs.” he added.
“These health behaviors can influence cardio metabolic conditions and subsequently CVD risk. Spirituality is more related to one’s emotional self-regulation, which could lead to less stress and therefore lower chances of developing cardio metabolic conditions and CVDs. Support from social networks can also influence this emotional self-regulation,” Dr Sharma said.
Dr Sushil Sharma laid stress on the fact that Cardiac rehabilitation programs involving lifestyle modification, psychological interventions, education, and counseling have been shown to limit the adverse physiologic and psychological effects associated with cardiac illness and enhance patient’s quality of life. He further told that religiousness has been shown to enhance self-esteem, generate positive emotions, and promote positive self-care practices by encouraging individuals to refrain from unhealthy lifestyle practices, which in turn fosters well-being. Intrinsic religiousness, spiritual well-being, and attending to one’s spiritual needs were related to better physical, mental, and emotional functioning. On the other hand, spiritual constraint and lower spiritual well-being were associated with poorer physical and emotional well-being
Others who were part of this Camp include Dr Nasir Ali Choudhary (Cardiologist) Dr Anitipal Singh (Orthopaedics) and Dr Dhaneshwer Kapoor. Paramedics and Volunteers include Kamal Sharma, Raghav Rajput, Ranjit Singh, Rajkumar, Amandeep Singh, Harvinder Singh, Maninder Singh, Paramveer Singh, Sandeep Pal and Akshay Kumar.
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