LAHORE: Medical experts have demanded that in view of the rapid increase in heart diseases in the country, separate units for preventive cardiology should be set up in hospitals to provide awareness to the public and health workers to adopt a healthy lifestyle and avoid such diseases.

They expressed serious concern over the rise in heart disease among young people in Pakistan, largely due to eating disorders and a lack of exercise. The experts said that heart diseases were one of the leading causes of death in the world -- killing 250,000 people in the country among the 19 million worldwide last year.

Addressing an event organised at Allama Iqbal Medical College (AIMC) on Tuesday to mark World Heart Day, University of Health Sciences (UHS) Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof Javed Akram announced that the varsity would launch a level-four postgraduate programme in preventive cardiology.

“A chair for the programme will be set up at [AIMC], while funding will be provided jointly by the UHS and the Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine (PSIM),” he explained.

He said that every second person in Pakistan had blood pressure and every third person heart disease. “This is largely due to the ‘McDonaldisation’ of our food and distance from physical exertion,” he exclaimed.

He stressed that people must change their lifestyles. “Obese people should lose up to 10 per cent of their weight. In this regard, it is important to reduce the size of the waist -- men up to 34 inches, while women 32 inches,” he added.

He further said that inserting a stent in the heart or bypass operation was not a permanent cure for heart disease.

Pakistan Cardiac Society (PCS) President Prof Haroon AK Babar said that prevention is better than cure, but we do not pay attention to it. “Every hospital in the US has a preventive cardiology unit. The government is requested to set up these units in hospitals here as well,” he added.

Prof Babar further said that like hypertension, high cholesterol was also a silent killer. People should take care of it and get tested from time to time.

AIMC Principal Prof Arif Tajammul said that due to coronavirus, public and media attention had been diverted from heart diseases. However, given its importance, setting up public awareness programmes was the need of the hour.

Cardiologist Prof Zubair Akram, Dr Khalid Khan and physician Prof Tariq Waseem also addressed on the occasion.

A memorandum of understanding was also signed by the representatives of UHS, AIMC, PSIM and PCS. Prof Akram said he was trying to make people aware of the dangers of smoking and sugar consumption.

Earlier, a walk was also organised at AIMC to observe World Heart Day.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2020