Awareness For Healthy Heart

This World Heart Day

- Dr. Nihar Mehta

Heart Diseases are on the rise in our country. One fourth of Indians die because of cardiovascular diseases. What’s more is that Indians are prone to ‘Premature Heart Disease’ meaning that heart diseases occur one decade earlier in our country as compared to the West. The impact this has the years of life lost, the loss of productivity and the burden on the family is immeasurable. To add fuel to the fire, Indians with heart attacks have less access to appropriate treatment and even if treated, have a higher mortality.

The first step in the fight against these problems is Prevention. You must prevent heart problems from cropping up by strictly controlling all the factors which increase the risk for heart disease. It is estimated that one third of Indians use tobacco in some form – the smokeless tobacco and bid is being the most common. It is akin to slowly poisoning yourself!

The content of fruits and vegetables in our diet contributes to preventing heart diseases. WHO recommends that more than five fruits and vegetables should be consumed daily. In India, this number is between zero and one! The possible explanation is increasing cost of fruits and vegetables. Additionally, the vegetables when consumed are often overcooked leading to loss of essential nutrients.