Ludhiana, April 21
“More and more Indian women are being inflicted with coronary artery diseases (CAD) due to sedentary habits and rich diets. There has been a steady increase in the number of Indian women suffering from CAD.
This was disclosed by Dr Anurag Mehta, Assistant Professor, Section of Cardiology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, while talking to Ludhiana Tribune here today. Dr Mehta, accompanied with Dr BoJohnsson, Cardiac Surgeon, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, university hospital, Uppsala, is on a visit to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital under medical exchange programme.
Dr Anurag said one of the reason for late detection of CAD among women was the hesitation to consult a doctor. “Even the ‘modern’ Indian woman was not ready to share her problem with a doctor. The shyness can be prone to very dangerous”, he said.
The major reason for this disease was the socio-economic conditions of the country. People living in the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Kerala were at a higher risk of CAD due to their rich diet of milk products and less physical activity.
He said the other reasons were hypertension, diabetes, smoking and family history. The sedentary lifestyle of people was also contributing to the disease.
Dr BoJohansson said Indians were least concerned about their own health as they do not change their eating habits. He said there was an increase in CAD in Indian society. But due to the advanced medical facilities, surgical treatment and efficient surgeons, the disease was controlled. There were medicines available which could work very well on the heart patients.
He said nine to 10 per cent of the urban population in Punjab was suffering from some heart diseases or the other. Heart disease was, however, less prevalent among ruralities. About 3 to 4 per cent of the rural population of Punjab was suffering from CAD. “They were less prone to heart diseases because they were physically active and less stressed”, he added.
“Intermediate care, diet, stable blood pressure, less stress and thorough activity were some of the prevention which can control the disease”, he said while disclosing that research was going on to establish whether pollution had any role in CAD.
