The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

Take hypertension seriously: doctor
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 15
Those taking hypertension lightly could be in for bigger trouble as not being just a disease of numbers it could be an open invitation to cardiovascular diseases, which is the number one killer disease in the world today.

“It is very unfortunate that hypertension is not taken seriously as only 29 per cent of persons suffering from it get proper treatment, while the rest either fail to recognise it or are not given proper medical help,” stated Dr Y.P. Singh, Consultant Cardiologist of a diagnostic centre in the city, while delivering a lecture at the CME on ‘Hypertension’ at the IMA Complex, Sector 35.

He informed that statistics revealed that out of the 10.7 million cardiovascular deaths taking place annually, about fifty per cent of these were due to hypertension. He said by giving proper treatment to hypertensive people the mortality could be brought down considerably. “People with high blood pressure are prone to heart attacks, stroke and kidney-related problems, which could be fatal if not tackled properly,” he warned.

Dr Y.P. Singh said though the exact figures for India were not available but as per a PGI study about six to 25 per cent of Punjabis were found to be suffering from hypertension.

He elaborated that blood pressure was one disease which did not give any warning as the first symptom was a heart attack in which only 30 per cent of the patients were able to seek medical help, while rest died even before that. The number of deaths on account of cardiovascular diseases was even more than the accidental and homicide deaths put together, he added.

The doctor said though the major cause for the blood pressure was genetic factors, but environmental factors like stress, obesity, sedentary life style, junk food, excess salt consumption, lack of exercise and physical activity could also be the factors behind it. “People born with smaller number of nephrons in the kidney should take extra caution and as such we recommend that they take salt with 25 per cent less sodium,” said the doctor. He revealed that a village in Africa, where people did not consume salt at all had no prevalence of blood pressure.

Dr V.P. Singh said, a few decades back it was difficult to control the blood pressure, as the medicines for it had major side effects. Now it is much more easier to control the blood pressure as the medicines are very effective with minimal side effects.

He said so far we had been looking at the wrong side of the coin by focussing more on diastolic rather on systolic blood pressure and pulse. It has been seen that in people above the age of 60, more than 35 per cent develop hypertension and as such one third of our population is found to be suffering from this problem.

Sounding a note of caution, he said: “Hypertension is probably the only disease in which a person does not take it seriously as he is able to move around normally and only when the problem aggravates the patient seeks medical help”.

Eye care programme launched
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 15
A local eye institute today launched a unique eye care programme for doctors and eye patients called “See, what you have been missing”.

The programme aims at making general public aware of the symptoms of various eye diseases along with the prevention aspects. According to Dr S.P.S. Grewal, Founder and CEO, Grewal Eye Institute, which organised the programme, the change in lifestyles had made people prone to eye ailments and it is was all the more important to take remedial steps to prevent eye diseases.

A seminar on “Lasik — myths and realities” was also held where speakers informed the audience about refractive errors. Besides, the role of general practitioners in case of diabetic patients was also discussed. All present in the audience were of the view that:

* A general practitioner should make his patients aware of the effect of diabetes on eyes.

* If a diabetic patient experiences deterioration in vision he should be seen immediately.

* He should educate them on the role of Lasik treatment.

* He should educate them on the relevance of control of diabetes for the patients.

Chandigarh Police beat CRPF
Our sports Reporter

Chandigarh, September 15
The Chandigarh Police beat the CRPF by a solitary goal in the inaugural tie of the Senior State Chandigarh Police Shaheed Smarak Football championship here at Police Lines grounds, Sector 26. The six day meet is being conducted under the aegis of the Chandigarh Football Association. Earlier, the DGP, Punjab, Mr M.S. Bhullar inaugurated the meet which is being held in memory of the five martyrs of the Chandigarh Police. The participating teams also staged a march past. Mr Parag Jain, SSP, Chandigarh, presented the welcome address. He also announced that this meet would be made an annual feature.

In the CRPF- Chandigarh Police tie, the former dominated the proceedings during the first 10 minutes. However, Munish of Chandigarh Police changed the scenario when he drove past two defenders and beat the rival goalkeeper with a powerful shot into the goal in the 16th minute. The CRPF tried to exert pressure but in vain.

After the lemon break, the CRPF tried to make a comeback but it was Munish, the star player of Chandigarh Police, whose dangerous moves troubled the CRPF team. Tomorrow, three matches will be played starting at 12 noon.

Patiala KV win

Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 3, Patiala, got the better of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Faridkot by an innings and five points in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan, Chandigarh region boys kho-kho championship played here at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sector 31. Surjeet and Badal of KV No. 3 gave a scintillating performance when they gave continous three minutes running to their opponents. With this win, KV, Patiala has gained entry to the KVS national boys kho-kho championship to be played at Pune from October 9 to 14.Hosts KV-31 obtained the runner-up place in the kho-kho meet.

Earlier the KVS, Chandigarh region junior girls volleyball championship was won by KV, Sector 31, eves who will now take part in the KVS national volleyball meet to be held at KVS, Bhubaneswar from October 3 to 9.

St Stephen’s School triumph

St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, Chandigarh, secured a 1-1 draw in their match against a team from Gurdaspur in the Administrator Cup football match played here today at the Panjab University grounds. In other matches of the day, Shishu Niketan School, Sector 22, lost to Mehar Football club, Kurali, 0-3; Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23 were beaten by Youth Football club, R. Kalan, 0-5; and Gloom Dill, Hisar beat Government Senior Secondary School, Rohtak 1-0.

Football team

Simran Sardana of St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, will be the captain of the Chandigarh junior girls football team for the second junior national girls football championship to be held at Diphu (Assam) from September 20. According to Mr Rakesh Bakshi, Secretary, Chandigarh Football Association, the team has been attending a coaching camp since August 28 and will leave tomorrow for the meet. Ms Kuldeep Kaur, Mr P.P. Singh and Mr Ramesh Bhatt will accompany the team as lady manager, team manager and coach, respectively.

The team members are: Nidhi, Deepika, Annushri, Manmeet, Haranchal, Deepika, Richa Walia, Stanzil and Haroor (all St Stephen’s, Sector 45), Poonam and Madhu (Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23) Neetu Choudhary and Deepa (MCM DAV, Sector 36), Sonia and Asha (Government Girls School, Sector 20), Pooja, Suman and Manpreet (Government Model School) and Puneeta (MCM, Sector 36).