Cardiologist stressed for increasing public awareness about 'healthy-heart' lifestyle.

ISLAMABAD -- Senior Cardiologist Wednesday said lack of awareness about lifestyles, food habits, body weight and the importance of exercise are the major cause behind the increase in cardiovascular diseases in the country.

Talking to PTV news channel, Head of Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC), Major General (Retd) Dr Azhar Mehmood Kayani said there is need for adopting precautionary measures and control risk factors for arresting the upward graph of heart diseases as the number of heart patients rising every year.

'There is also dire need to run mass scale community awareness programmes regarding heart diseases in Pakistan,' he added.

Physical activities have to be encouraged among the people in their busy life to avoid abdominal obesity and heart attacks, he stressed.

He said that the heart diseases are swiftly spreading all over the world and have become number one killer disease in the world including Pakistan.

He warned the number of heart patients is rising world-wide due to high blood pressure or coronary heart disease and diabetes may face serious complications if they do not take extra care.

"Diabetic patients who have high blood pressure and cholesterol have greater risk of heart diseases," Dr Azhar Kiyani added.

He cautioned that the diabetic patients who do not control their sugar will end up with a diseased.

According to him, heart ailments were even more lethal than cancer and other communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Cardiac expert stress for raising awareness about the burden of hypertension and heart failure and its impact on lives of patients in present society.

He said early identification and treatment of patients with hypertension by the healthcare professionals can prevent the patients of heart diseases

Dr explained that heart failure is the abnormality of cardiac structure or function leading to failure of the heart to adequately supply blood to organ systems. It is a chronic condition, which is combined with acute episodes.

It is important that these patients are counseled and educated about importance of proper diet and medication, he added.

If concrete steps were not taken the...