Smoking a major cause of heart disease in Haryana; Expert

Kurukshetra, July 13, 2014: As many as 100 people attended a Max Super Speciality Hospital (MSSH), Mohali continued medical education (CME) on Cardiology held at Hotel Saffron, Kurukshetra on Friday night. The CME was organised with the association of IMA Kurukshetra. Dr Ajay Agarwal, President, IMA President presented during occasion.
Speaking during occasion, Dr Sudheer Saxena, Principal Consultant, Cardiology at MSSH, Mohali said that these days many young people from Haryana were falling prey to heart problems thanks to unhealthy life style.
Giving a recent example of Sumit (24) & Kaushal (28) from Kurukshetra, Dr Saxena informed that worked on the night shift. They had  erratic food habits, smoke, drink liquor frequently and barely ever exercise. The both had acute heart attack. Luckily they were saved by timely medical intervention. But it was shocked to see such young people suffering from a life-threatening condition known to affect people above 50 years.
“In fact this was not the first time we have come across such young patients from this region, having acute heart attack. What was more worrying that they had no previous history of heart disease or the usual risk factors like diabetes and obesity. It was clearly a result of the unhealthy lifestyle these youth were leading for years.”
He said further that data from several studies indicated that tobacco smokers have 2-3 fold higher relative risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), 1.5 times for stroke,  and 12 fold risks for lung cancer. Smoking would act synergistically with other risk factors, substantially increasing the risk of CHD. Smokers were also at increased risk for peripheral vascular disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, and many other chronic diseases. Cigarette smoking was the single most alterable risk factor contributing to premature morbidity and mortality.
In a major concern in Haryana, apart from 46 % males who were involved in active smoking the percentage of females involved in smoking was also very high, Dr. Saxena informed.
Setting up more Conoronary Care Units & establishing primary angioplasty program in all major districts could save many precious lives from heart attack, pointed out Dr Saxena.
An expert in the field of advanced interventional procedures like multi vessel and primary angioplasty procedures, Dr Saxena is known to be among the safest interventional cardiologists in the country with a high success rate of 99 per cent) and a mortality rate of less than 0.3 percent .