'Journalists vulnerable to cardiovascular diseases'

Unhealthy diets and physical inactivity are key risk factors for the major non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and diabetes in media persons. Consultant Cardiologist, Shifa International Hospital, Dr Saeedullah Shah told APP on Tuesday that due to work load, media persons are more vulnerable to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and advised them to adopt healthy life-style to prevent from such diseases.
He said the major causes of cardiovascular disease are tobacco use, physical inactivity, an unhealthy diet and harmful use of alcohol. He said routine walk and exercise reduces the chances of morbidity, disability and premature mortality due to CVDs. He advised media persons for regular check up from medical consultants besides conducting tests related to heart diseases including blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol level. Saeedullah Shah recommended the media persons to achieve energy balance and a healthy weight, limit energy intake from total fats and shift fat consumption, away from saturated fats to unsaturated fats and towards the elimination of trans-fatty acids.
He also advised them to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, and legumes, whole grains and nuts, limit the intake of free sugars, limit salt consumption from all sources and ensure that salt is iodized. He said cardiovascular disease is caused by disorders of the heart and blood vessels, and includes coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, raised blood pressure, peripheral artery disease, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease and heart failure.
He said that smoking cessation is the most effective intervention for patients with CVDs. He said that many people die each year due to cardiovascular diseases and a substantial number of these deaths can be attributed to tobacco smoking, which increases the risk of dying from coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease 2-3 fold. He said the risk increases with age and is greater for women than men. In contrast, cardiac events fall 50 per cent in people who stop smoking and the risk of CVDs, including acute myocardial infarction, stroke and peripheral vascular disease, also decreases significantly after stop smoking, he added.