Srinagar: Heart ailments are on rise among the younger as well as in the older people of the state. As per the study carried out by Global Health Research Institute which was carried out in all states of India, J&K has 28.6 Percent deaths because of heart related ailments. The study further reports that 25 percent of deaths occur in the age group of 25-69 years. Out of these, 32.8 percent deaths occur in urban areas and 22.9 percent occur in rural areas.
As per an ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) report, heart diseases accounts for 19 percent deaths all over India. This varies from state to state. The report further says the proportion of deaths caused by heart diseases is highest in South India (25 Percent) and lowest (12 Percent) in the Central region. According to the report, cholesterol and high blood pressure are the prime culprits for the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases among people.
Adding a twist to the tale, the office of Registrar General of India (RGI) which tracks birth and mortality rate in the country reports states that states with cold temperature have more occurrence of deaths due to heart ailments.
This has a resonance in Jammu and Kashmir-especially the Kashmir division of the state.
J&K being one of the colder states has high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases.
The occurrence of deaths sharply increases from December to January. The main cause according to experts if that cold temperature cause arteries to tighten, restricting blood flow and reducing the oxygen supply to heart -all of which are responsible for heart failure. In cold weather there is more oxygen demand by the heart because during winters heart works harder to maintain the body heat.
Experts in Kashmir point out to the widespread prevalence of the heart disease in Kashmir and assert that the problem is neither widely recognized nor there is adequate infrastructure in place to deal with the problem.
According to Dr. Shahid Iqbal Tak, a cardiologist , Heart disease is not an emerging problem anymore. It has already emerged as a major cause of death. I see 70- 80 heart patients per day and nearly 10-15 patients are very young (20-25 years of age). We havent recognized this and dont have adequate programs to deal with it. For tuberculosis you have TB clinics, for Malaria you have the malaria control Programme. For cardiovascular diseases we have nothing so far. We need to have health clubs where we can treat, counsel and aware about heart diseases. The main reasons for occurrence of heart diseases are changing lifestyles and smoking.
Validating Dr.Taks assessment attributed the prevalence of heart disease in Kashmir to lifestyle changes and substance abuse, Dr. Khurshid Aslam , a famous physician stated, that changing lifestyles and continuous usage of drugs/smoking is the reason for high prevalence of heart ailments in the state. As there are no statistics available for the deaths caused due to heart ailments among younger people but definitely there is an increasing trend of chronic ailments among them. Most of the deaths occur during winters because heart doesnt perform its action due to tightening of arteries and vessels which ultimately leads to death of a patient.
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