Fuel your heart, power your life
dubai — it might be just the size of your fist, but this hollow muscular organ keeps your big body alive and kicking. it beats about 100,000 times per day (clocking about 3 billion beats in a lifetime). on september 28, world heart day, khaleej times speaks to experts who tell us how to get cracking on a heart-healthy lifestyle and ward off heart diseases. in the uae, heart diseases are the biggest killer with an estimated toll of 30 per cent in dubai alone. people working here in stressful conditions and leading a luxury lifestyle has resulted in an increase in obesity, diabetes and hypertension, say local health experts. these risk factors, interlinked with high sugar and cholesterol intake, leads to heart disease. the focus of this year’s world heart day is generating awareness about how people can fuel their hearts and power their lives. “heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in the uae,” says dr pietie loubser, chief clinical officer, mediclinic middle east. “however, this can be prevented by taking simple steps such as eating healthy and not smoking. dr hani m sabbour, consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist, clinical professor of cardiology at the shaikh khalifa medical centre, said: “people need to be aware of the fact that a high level of cholesterol in the blood is the key risk factor in chronic heart diseases. effective treatment to achieve the best control on lipid levels is needed to prevent and reduce riks at an early stage.” around 61.8 per cent of all patients and 69.5 per cent of very high-risk patients do not achieve target cholesterol control levels in the gulf countries.
People need to be aware of the fact that a high level of cholesterol in the blood is the key risk factor in chronic heart diseases.” Dr Hani M Sabbour, Shaikh Khalifa Medical Centre New therapies such as Praluent can help adult patients with high cardiovascular disease risk, by lowering the cholesterol levels by about 50%.” Dr Hassanein, Dubai Hospital
breakthrough therapy talking about a breakthrough therapy launching for the first time here, dr sabbour said: “a new class of drugs known as pcsk9 inhibitors will especially help patients who have not been able to lower their ldl (bad) cholesterol to optimal levels with available treatment options. the therapy works by blocking a protein (called pcsk9) that may contribute to high ldl cholesterol.” dr hassanein, consultant in endocrinology at the dubai hospital, said: “high levels of bad cholesterol in the blood can lead to dangerous accumulation of fat in the blood vessels of the heart and other organs like the brain and limbs. these deposits can reduce crucial promising data “new therapies BlooDhave recently been introduced for patients in the uae, such as praluent AnD(alirocumab), which can flowhelp adult patients with high cardiovascular HEArtdisease risk. these are able to lower AnDthe cholesterol levels by about 50 proBlEms.”per cent of the baseline. it can CAusEalso help adults with inherited genetic conditions such as fh (that causes high levels of bad cholesterol, ComplICAtIonsaffecting youngsters as well) prevalent in the region, requiring additional lowering of ldl cholesterol,” dr hassanein added. saman@khaleejtimes.com