Healthy heart

Non-communicable diseases have gradually overtaken communicable diseases as the leading cause of deaths in Nepal, as in the developed countries, with the success of immunization programs and relative improvement in sanitation and awareness of the people in the past few years. Heart disease, doctors say, has now become one of the single-largest cause of deaths in the country with the relative success in containing communicable diseases. That heart disease has become one of the biggest killers is a worry in itself but the fact that youths, who have traditionally been considered immune to coronary heart problems, are increasingly becoming vulnerable is a matter of serious concern.



Records at Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center show that around 20 percent of the total patients admitted there after suffering a heart attack or near attack are below 40 years, while corresponding figures at Norvic International Hospital put it at 15 percent. As bad as the fact that the most productive segment of the populace is becoming susceptible to heart problems is, it ironically seems to have correlation with professional success. The youths embrace immense stress to achieve professional success putting their heart at risk and the money that comes with professional success leads to a more sedentary lifestyle further compounding the matter. The youths are also increasingly turning to smoking, alcohol and junk food, which harms the heart no end.



Doctors consider smoking to be the single-biggest risk factor for not just heart but many other health problems and almost all of the young heart patients admitted at the Shahid Gangalal National Heart Center are said to be smokers. The youths should take this as a wake-up call to become serious about their health. It is all right to strive for professional success but not wise to sacrifice health in that pursuit. They should strive to make physical activity a part of their daily routine, adopt healthy eating habits, focus on mental relaxation and, most importantly, abstain from smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.



While it is up to an individual to adopt a healthy approach, the government should also play its part. It should take aggressive steps to tell people about the harms that smoking and drinking habits inflict, for the expenditure on the health problems arising out of smoking and alcohol abuse is far greater than the revenues generated from tobacco and liquor sales. The government should enforce ban on smoking at public places and can also try the ban on sale of cigarettes in units smaller than a packet, a measure which has been successfully employed in the West to reduce smoking. Probably, the state can then move on to regulate sale of packed and canned junk food to safeguard the health of people—the engine of its growth.

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