In the last two years, the number of admissions for heart attacks and heart failures has been on the increase in Qatar, Heart Hospital’s Cardiology chairman Dr A A Gehani has said.
“About 4,000 patients are being seen every year. Alarmingly, these do not include the patients we see at the outpatient department or those who come for re-checks,” he said while mentioning that more than 10,500 patients visited the Heart Hospital last year.
He was speaking on the occasion of World Heart Day being marked every September 29.
This year, women and children are the focus of World Heart Day and the theme “take the road to a health heart”, has been designed to prompt healthier and more conscious lifestyle choices for the whole family.
According to the World Heart Federation, cardiovascular diseases cause a record 17.3mn deaths each year.
Contrary to popular belief, men and women are both affected by cardiovascular diseases, with worldwide statistics indicating that one in every three females will be diagnosed with heart disease.
Factors such as lack of physical activity, unhealthy diet and smoking are some of the leading causes of heart diseases.
The factors also affect children and increase the likelihood of childhood heart problems.
“At the Heart Hospital, we target specific groups, especially young children, women and pregnant women with heart diseases. Findings show that these groups have not been paid as much attention due to an assumption that they are not as vulnerable to heart problems as men. However, women are not only at a high risk but are also found to have worse complications than their male counterparts,” Dr Gehani said.
Approximately 30% of the Qatari patients at Heart Hospital who received angiograms, an imaging test that uses x-rays to view the body’s blood vessels and to examine narrow, blocked or enlarged arteries, were women.
Dr Gehani added that women with diabetes are prone to more severe heart problems than males with diabetes, which adds emphasis to this year’s World Heart Day.
In order to reduce the risk of heart diseases, the World Heart Federation is urging people to make simple changes to their lifestyle, such as increasing physical activity, eating a heart healthy diet consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables, quitting smoking and visiting a healthcare professional to determine one’s blood pressure, cholesterol, weight and body mass index (BMI) levels.