World Heart Day: ‘Take few steps daily to avoid heart complications’
A few steps in a day are probably the minimum to gain health benefits and to keep oneself away from cardiac diseases.
“Try to take 10,000 steps-a-day to keep your heart healthy,” Shifa International Hospital (SIH) Consultant Cardiologist Dr Asad Ali Saleem said while talking to The Express Tribune in connection with the World Heart Day, observed annually on September 29.
“Nowadays, for many people, life is about eating fast food in the cozy environment of well-known chains besides tapping on a laptop or a smart phone. This lifestyle is completely unhealthy and needs to be changed,” said Dr Saleem, adding that people needed to be educated on the need for balanced diets and exercise to remain healthy.
“Daily exercise does not mean one must go to a gym. It can even be in the form of taking a few steps every day,” he said.
Dr Saleem said that though scientific and technological advancements were making our lives easy, at the same time, they were restricting people to their seats, which was not good.
“Parents play a major role in misdirecting their children by giving them smart phones, laptops and video game consoles, which decrease their outdoor activities, and then taking them to fast food chains too often.”
Children have become too used to pizzas, burgers, French fries and fizzy drinks, all of which can cause obesity and increased chances of heart disease, he said. “They do not even consider eating fruit and vegetables,” he added.
“Give apples or other fruits to your children instead of burgers and pizzas. It will increase their life expectancy,” said Dr Saleem.
Most deaths in Pakistan are caused by heart-related diseases and the numbers show an increasing trend.
“Pakistan lacks accurate data on the number of heart patients and heart-related deaths. We estimate using the average number of patients we treat,” he said.
Sharing details, he said that every month he attends to 60 to 70 new patients with various heart-related complications.
“It is alarming to see that young people in their early 30s are also having heart problems, mainly due to poor lifestyle habits,” he said.
“In rural areas, people have heart problems due to excessive smoking, while in urban areas, it is due to junk food,” he said, suggesting that people keep constant check on their cholesterol level, blood pressure, diabetes and weight.
Meanwhile, a seminar was also held at the SIH to mark the day. SIH Consultant Cardiologist at Dr Saeedullah Shah said that cardiovascular disease was usually caused by disorders of heart and blood vessels which include coronary heart disease, congenital heart disease and heart failure.
He stressed the need to control major risk factors — tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and excessive consumption of alcohol— to avoid heart problems.
Clinical dietitian Dr Saba Tanveer suggested increasing use of fruit, vegetables, pulses, whole grains, nuts and limiting intake of sugar, salt and oil.
Awareness walk
An awareness walk was held at the Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. A large number of doctors, medical students, paramedical and nursing staff members participated in the walk.
Rawalpindi Medical College Principal Dr Muhammad Umer said that the trend of increasing heart diseases was alarming and that around 80,000 people in Pakistan fall victim to heart attacks every year. He said that hypertension, diabetes, smoking, obesity, alcohol, physical inactivity and stress were the most common causes of heart disease which could be avoided through balanced diet, regular exercise and medical checkup.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2014.
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Those who did some reasonably serious exercise—biking, swimming, playing soccer—ended up with healthier hearts than men who spend their time puttering about.