Heart Disease News
Young adults not spared from heart disease
According to the report from Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) unveiled on yesterday, almost 15 people die every day because of cardiovascular diseases in Singapore. The study has also suggested that the young people are also suffering from heart attacks and strokes.
According to the experts, the young generation is falling in to the heart problems because of their unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles. The SHF aid it would continue its efforts to improve the awareness of the heart diseases and blood pressure diseases. Instead of the only mass screening the SHF is providing 300 blood pressure monitors at various schools to monitor the blood pressure of the pupils.
All the blood pressure monitors are donated by a company. The children are also trained to use the monitor to test the blood pressure of their parents at home. SHF has aimed to cover 15 more schools in the next year.
The SHF has also raised questions on the use of the diabetes drug Avandia and said the drug had a negative impact on the heart of a human body. On Friday the SHF had appealed to the people of Singapore not to use the drug.
Study: Walking, Cycling Keeps Heart Failure at Bay
A new Finnish study has indicated that going to work on foot or cycling can be useful in warding off the possibility of a heart failure. And a job that is not sedentary helps too.
Senior researcher, Dr. Gang Hu of Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, told Reuters Health in an e-mail that engaging in some physical activity is of course important, but being active at workplace is essential too.
Walking to work everyday or spinning two wheels is integral in keeping good health.
Heart failure takes place when the heart is not able to pump enough blood that is required by the body. At present, five million Americans fall prey to heart failure.
Hu said, “Increases in computerization and mechanization that have resulted in ever-increasing numbers of people being sedentary for most of their time”.
It is pertinent to mention that earlier studies were focused on positive outcomes of regular exercise on both coronary heart disease and stroke. But, the investigators had not examined the effects of physical activity on the peril of heart failure, or the exceptional roles of relaxation and non-leisure movements on the condition.
Dr. Luc Djousse of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, observed that the results are in agreement with the Physician’s Health Study.
In this study, he and his associates had revealed that regular exercise was linked with a minor risk of heart failure in men.
Kenyans warned as heart diseases on the rise
At least 17.2 million people are dying from heart disease and stroke each year but this is expected rise to 41 million in five years, says Gender PS James Nyikal.
Dr Nyikal warned Kenyans during celebrations to mark World Heart Day in Nairobi on Sunday that increased intake of salt, alcohol, cigarettes and lack of exercise, were a threat to life.
Could be avoided
He said 80 per cent of premature heart-related deaths could be avoided.
In Kenya, heart specialists have sounded the alarm and are advocating for a radical change in people’s lifestyles.
The government has already banned adverts on smoking and smoking in public places. “Even though a lot has been done to discourage smoking, it is disheartening to note that in Kenya, the rate is as high as 50 per cent, especially in colleges and universities,” said Dr Nyikal.
He said in urban areas, dietary preferences had shifted from vegetables, legumes, fruits and home-made meals to fast foods, especially among children.
“With urbanisation and a free economy, a lot of processed and pre-packed foods are available in supermarkets. The sale of fast foods to children must be regulated,” he said, adding: “Heart diseases develop slowly. A poor diet at a young age contributes to early child deaths.”
Dr Nyikal said the global goal of reducing the death rate of chronic diseases by an additional two per cent annually would prevent 36 million deaths in the next five years.
Speaking at the same event, Kenya Cardiac Society chairman Prof Gerald Yonga said many deaths in Kenya were related to how we eat, drink and move.
“Kenyans are advised to avoid excessive intake of certain foods like fatty meat, salt or sugar, alcohol or cigarettes,” said Prof Yonga.
“Treating heart diseases is very expensive yet it can be avoided by changing our lifestyles because if we continue living this, we will die like flies.”