Apollo Gleneagles Heart Centre launches Well Being Series

Kolkata, Feb 4 (UNI) Apollo Gleneagles Heart Centre has launched a health awareness programme '' Well Being'' to help patients and their family members to deal with various kinds of physical ailments.

The Well Being series, to be held here on the first Saturdays of every month, is a wellness campaign started by the Centre to bring about general awareness among people of all age groups, vulnerable to various kinds of diseases.

In the inaugural session held yesterday, they dealt with the two most common, yet critical ailments of the human body -- diabetes and heart diseases.

Speaking on the occassion, Cardiologist Dr Debashish Ghosh and Diabetologist Dr Sanjay Chatterjee emphasised on Smart Lifestyle and Comprehensive Healthcare Plan, which will enable patients to avoid heart attacks and other heart ailments.

Dr Ghosh addressed the risk factor that Indians are increasingly facing these days. He pointed out that women run a greater risk of suffering from heart attack than men by five per cent.

''Diabetes increase the chances of suffering a heart attack by about 2.5 per cent and tobacco increases the risk by four per cent.

If a person is both diabetic and a smoker, he runs an even greater risk. Even if he quits, his body will take five years to return to the non-smoking condition,'' he further added.

Speaking about the current lifestyle trend among youth, he said lack of physical activities and intake of 'junk' food have increased the rate of ''central obesity''.

Central Obesity is a condition where a person may be thin, yet have a 'pot belly' and rounded face with excessive fat deposition. Dr Ghosh attributed the increased rate of heart attack cases to this defective lifestyle pattern.

He also emphasised on a ''global risk prevention'' for a successful combat against heart diseases saying the risk of suffering a heart attack can be minimised only if a person averts all kinds of risks, by changing lifestyle.

It requires a smoker to quit, smoking a drinker to stop drinking, regularise food habits, avoid fatty and oily food items, regular exercise and less intake of salt with a balance between work and recreation activities. It is also necessary to visit a physical on a regular basis.

UNI