Dubai, Feb 7th, 2012 (WAM) -- Cardiologists at the Dubai Health Authority are advocating the need for early screening to prevent cardiovascular diseases in the country.
Recent study of all the cases of cardiovascular cases admitted to DHA hospitals in 2011, strongly advocates the need for early screening, said Dr. Fahad Baslaib, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist and Director of Rashid Hospitals Cardiology Department. In 2011, both Rashid Hospital and Dubai Hospital conducted 3100 coronary angiography and angioplasty cases. "This is a significant number given the size of our population. The high incidence of diabetes, obesity and hypertension are the main reasons behind CVD. We need to educate our community to regularly screen themselves so that they can prevent heart diseases."Dr Obaid Al Jassim, a consultant cardiac surgeon and head of the cardiothoracic surgery department at Dubai Hospital said, "In terms of surgeries, we conducted 400 open heart surgeries in 2011. While many were congenital heart diseases, a significant number was still linked to poor lifestyle."Dr Baslaib said of the 3100 coronary angiography and angioplasty cases, 20 per cent of the patients were Emiratis, 60 percent of the patients were diabetic, 50 per cent of them were hypertensive and had high cholesterol and 50 per cent of them were smokers. Dr. Talib K. Majwal, Consultant, Interventional Cardiology and Director of Interventional Cardiology, Dubai Heart Center at Dubai Hospital said, "All these factors trigger heart diseases and the analysis of our data further highlights the close link between hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, tobacco use and heart attacks."Dr Baslaib said, " It is a known fact that 80 per cent of these cases are preventable through lifestyle modification. Yearly 17.1 million people die of heart attacks in the world. This figure is alarming and shows us the magnitude of the problem."In the UAE, one in 4 deaths is attributed to cardiovascular diseases. Dr Baslaib said, "The difference between our region and other places in the world in terms of heart diseases is that we have a high incidence of diabetes and in the Middle East region the average age of heart attacks is 50 to 55 years as opposed to 65 years in western countries. This is a significant difference and advocates the need for urgent lifestyle modification."DHA cardiologists highlighted the need for community awareness and advocacy at all levels of society as a solution to tackle the growing incidence of this problem.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2012.
