Listen to your heartbeat
On World Heart Day, theme being 'Corporate Wellness’, we take a look at what’s troubling urban hearts, and what can prevent it.
The theme for the World Heart Day, being observed all over the world today, is ‘Corporate Wellness’, as described by the World Health Organisation this year.
Young workers across the country are at a greater risk of heart diseases, say docs. “There has been an alarming rise in heart diseases among the youth, and India may just become the heart disease capital of the world by 2015,” says Dr Praveen Chandra, chairman, interventional cardiology, Medanta Medicity. “The average age of reported heart diseases patients has come down from 40 to 30,” he adds.
Experts attribute sedentary lifestyle, hectic schedules, lack of physical activity, smoking and drinking habits as the main factors. Consumption of Indian food, rich in ghee, and fast food have also been cited as major reasons.
So how does one ‘keep heart’? “One should keep a check on their weight. Brisk walking for 45 minutes, or working out is a must. Consuming less fat comes next. Some recent studies show genes also have a part to play, so if heart problems run in your family, you need to be extra cautious,” says Dr Praveer Aggarwal, senior cardiologist, Escorts Hospital. Stress, another big reason for heart problems, can be combated by “taking time to identify its causes and eliminating them, deep-breathing and yoga,” adds Aggarwal.
Did you know ?
A new study was conducted among 1000 corporate employees by medical services provider.
Max Healthcare reveals:
A shocking 76% of the people have never had a preventive heart check up, putting themselves at a considerable risk of having undetected cardiac and associated problems.
A sizeable percentage of people in the moderate to high risk age group of 30-50 years were negligent towards heart check-ups. Women (94%) were far behind men (82%) when it came to getting heart check-ups done.
The lowest awareness about one's own health was seen in the age group of 20-30 years, followed by 30-40 years. 30% of the subjects didn't know the benefits of lifestyle modification.
Laziness (17%) and long working hours (30%) were the main reasons for an unhealthy lifestyle.
25% of the respondents were overweight, 35% didn't exercise at all and 37% didn't follow a balance diet.
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