Bangladesh scenario on heart diseases
Four adults in every hundred population suffer heart disease
Star Health Desk
Professor (Brig retired) A Malik, president of Bangladesh Cardiac Society (BCS) put emphasis on health education at all levels including teachers, parents and students to launch a massive awareness programme on the prevention of the disease. "Prevention is simple and easy but we are simply not aware of some simple tips which can avoid the diseases," said Prof Malik. He also told the Star Health that women in Bangladesh are most ignorant about their health and they mostly suffer from hypertension, which is even worse. "People go for costly investigations after being attacked or suffering heart pains but regular check up and control on diets can easily avoid the ailments."Professor A K M Mohibullah, Secretary General of BCS now teaching and officially practicing at the Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital told the Star Health that Bangladesh is not free from a possible global epidemic of the coronary artery disease (CAD), one of the major causes of heart attacks, by 2020. Referring to a World Health Organisation forecast on the increasing global problem at last years World Congress on Cardiology in Australia he said, "There would be an epidemic of CAD world-wide and Bangladesh is not free from it since people are not aware of diets rich in fats and lifestyle." He also said that heart disease in Bangladesh is increasing. A 1976 study by BCS showed 2.8 per cent incidence of the disease among the general population (study size of population 7,600) and in 1985 similar study by the same organisation showed 4.1 per cent incidence (study size of population 4,500). "Since 1985 we have had no population based study but it is an indication that heart disease would be number one non-communicable disease burden in Bangladesh." The heart It beats day and night every day of our lives, but what does the heart really do for us? Your heart, quite simply, is a pump. But it is one of the most fascinating pumps you'll ever learn about. First you must understand that every cell in our body - from the cells in our hair to the cells in our toes need OXYGEN and NUTRIENTS to survive and keep us alive. Since they can't get these nutrients themselves, blood is used to deliver them right to the cells. (sort of like room service) The basic job of the heart is pumps that blood through your body so that the blood can deliver the oxygen and nutrients right to the cells. The heart keeps your blood pumping at all times as it picks up oxygen from your lungs and nutrients from your digestive system and sends them to all cells of your body. Your heart is the power behind the delivery system. Inside the heart is four chambers. Two of those chambers send the blood up to your lungs to get oxygen, then the other two chambers send that oxygen rich blood to the rest of your body. Valves inside of the heart make sure that the blood only moves in one direction. The younger you are, the faster your heart beats. A baby's heart beats about 90 times a minute. A twelve year old heart beats about 78 times a minute and an adult heart beats about 70 times a minute. Of course the more active you are, the more your heart beats, since the cells need oxygen faster to keep you moving.
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