Heart diseases still the No. 1 killer

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: Change your lifestyle and lead a healthy life. That's the message from Datuk Dr J.S. Sambhi, vice-president of the Heart Foundation of Malaysia.
“Malaysians should really change their lifestyle,” said Dr Sambhi in conjunction with the World Heart Day Walk-a-Mile celebration to be held at Lembah Kiara Park in Taman Tun Dr Ismail at 7am tomorrow.
“Cardiovascular diseases or heart diseases have been the number one killer in the world since decades ago. Even in Malaysia, it is still the number one killer. And because of the seriousness of the diseases, prevention measures must be observed,” said Dr Sambhi at a press conference here yesterday.
“The only way to reduce heart disease is prevention. Lifestyles need to be changed,” he added.
Dr Sambhi said cardiovascular diseases were common in both men and women although pre-menopausal women are less likely to contract heart diseases.
“Up to menopause, the incidents of heart diseases in women is exceptionally low, but after menopause, the chances of women contracting heart diseases increase and at 65 years of age, it is more or less on par with men,” he said.
“It is very easy to prevent heart diseases. You have to eat right and exercise. A proper diet can reduce the incidences of heart diseases by half,” said Dr Sambhi.
He said the easiest and effective exercise was walking. “Walking a mile a day will reduce the chances of getting heart diseases by 50%,” he said, adding that Malaysians should also cut down on smoking as that would reduce the chances of contracting the disease by 30% to 40%.
The World Heart Day Walk-a-Mile, which is jointly organised by the foundation and Nestle Omega Plus, will include exercise sessions and demonstration of physical activities, plus a healthy breakfast meal courtesy of Nestle.