Heart problems second most lethal disease in Qatar
Heart-related diseases and blood clotting are the second largest cause of deaths in Qatar, claiming 24 percent of total deaths in Qatar, a senior medical professional has said.
Amal Faqiha, a nutritionist and public health specialist, said the new revelations of heart related deaths were supported by the latest figures from World Health Organization (WHO) and the supreme Council of Health (SCH) in Doha.
The disease was claiming lives of both sexes and of all ages among citizens and residents in the country, said Faqiha.
She said that heart diseases and blood clotting were major causes of death in the world, claiming about 17.3 million lives every year.
She was giving health tips to help heart patients as part of the celebrations of the World Heart Day organized by Sidra Medical and research center in Doha.
She said awareness on heart related diseases were important in Qatar because of the environment and life styles of less physical exercises that put many people’s hearts at risk.
She said that men were more at risk of developing heart related ailments than women, old age, history of the disease in the family, use of tobacco or smoking, uncontrolled diabetes and increases in level of fats in the body all risked people’s lives to developing heart related ailments.
She urged residents to regularly visit a doctor to check their blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar levels, measure their weight and be honest while telling the doctor about their family history and personal habits so that they do a fair assessment of their conditions and risks to heart related ailments.
Diet was essential in the fight against heart related ailments and she urged people to take diets rich in vegetables, fruits, olives, nuts and fish and reduce the intake of saturated fat and red meat and full fat dairy products.
She also asked them to refrain from smoking completely and also do some physical exercises at least for 30 minutes every day.
At Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) the department of Nursing at the heart hospital held a lecture entitled “The challenges of technology in treating heart diseases”
During the lecture, Dr Abdul Aziz Al Khulaifi the head of cardiac surgery at the heart hospital said that in 2008 HMC launched an intensive program to provide care for patients with heart failures during their stay in the hospital.
Recently the administration was incorporating modern technology in treating health related ailments and these included the new device called Ventricular Assist Device that help to pump blood throughout the body in cases of heart failures. [Source: The Peninsula]
