KARACHI: Attributing an ‘imbalanced lifestyle’ to an alarming rise in cardiac diseases amongst the youth, medical experts have stressed the need of taking precautionary measures to avert the lethal disease.
Prominent cardiologists from across the country said this at the National Conference on Preventive Cardiac held here.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof Mansoor Ahmed, the chairman of the National Preventive Cardiac Society and the former president of Saarc Cardiac Society, said that the heart diseases prevalent among young people were largely due to an imbalance lifestyle.
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He emphasized the need to involve children in non-competitive physical activities to prevent heart diseases.
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“Currently, we are fostering the causes of heart diseases in children since there are no outdoor playing fields in school,” Prof Ahmed said, adding: “All their activities revolve around digital games, which is a matter of great concern.”
He recalled that it was because of the extensive efforts of medical experts that a significant number of cigarette advertisements in the media had been stopped. “However, now we are facing a challenging advertising campaign for cold drinks and soft beverages, which do not receive adequate attention for raising awareness and promoting heart disease prevention.”
Prof Ajaz A. Wahrah added that avoiding tobacco consumption, making exercise a routine and reducing the intake of fatty foods can exert significant control over this ailment.
Former vice chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences Prof Masood Hamid asserted that adopting a balanced lifestyle kept an individual safe from various diseases.
He highlighted in the causes of heart diseases, tobacco consumption holds paramount importance, but junk food consumption is also a major factor contributing to heart diseases and high blood pressure. “The use of low-salt diets is highly beneficial for health.”
Another expert, Dr Abdul Rashid emphasized that the most dangerous aspect facing societies like Pakistan was the rising prevalence of heart diseases among young people, including both men and women.
He stressed the importance of taking precautionary measures to prevent high blood pressure, hypertension, mental stress and heart diseases since the treatment of heart diseases was expensive and beyond the reach of the common man. “However, precautionary measures are within everyone’s grasp, especially adopting exercise as a routine and avoiding all types of tobacco consumption.”
The event was also addressed by Dr Fadilah A. Sahail, Prof Javed Akbar Sial, Dr Hussain Mahdi, Prof Abdul Samad and Dr Zilaf Shahid.
Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2023