Be kind, don’t leave a scar on your heart
dubai — Seek medical help immediately if you experience chest pain in order to reduce the risk of heart disease, according to experts.
Speaking at a World Heart Day event on Saturday at The Address Marina, organised by Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group in coordination with Khaleej Times, Dr Albert E Alahmar, said that residents need to stop ignoring chest pains or delaying their checkups. World Heart Day falls on September 29 every year.
Figures by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) show that one in four people in the UAE are killed by heart disease. “These are the figures in this part of the world and it is very striking. I think education for everybody is essential to make sure we reduce the risk of heart disease,” said Dr Alahmar, the consultant interventional cardiologist at Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital, Dubai.
“If you’re having chest pain, please call 999 and visit a hospital. Get checked, there’s no harm in being told everything is normal as opposed to a heart attack.
“What is heart disease? You’ve heard these many times: heart disease is the main killer’ or ‘people are dying because of their hearts’. Every year, in Europe alone, there’s about 3.8 million who die because of heart disease.
“This is more than the amount of people who died in the Second World War. So, you can imagine how high risky it is and how important is it to be preventive in those regards.”
Dr Alahmar said that heart attacks leave scars on a person’s heart, ultimately impacting their lifespan. “A heart attack leaves scar on everybody’s heart if it’s not treated immediately and that scar will stay them in their hearts for the rest of their lives, impacting on their long life survival and further events.
“People with scars have a high tendency to go into cardiac arrest when the heart stops or goes very fast. If we can prevent the scar, that’s massive benefit and that’s been my advice for everybody.
“Please don’t wait until the next day to see the specialist or the consultant. This is what needs to change in the UAE, I know I cannot change the lifestyle of people, however, we
Don’t wait until the next day to see the specialist or the consultant. This is what needs to change in the UAE.”
Dr Albert E Alahmar, consultant cardiologist, Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital, Dubai
can provide state of the art treatment in this part of the world. I hope people will start thinking about it.” Dr Alahmar pointed out that if a person experiences chest pain in the early hours of the morning, it could most likely be a heart attack. He said this is
If you have kids limit the time of social media and Internet. I’m trying to ask parents to commit their kids into certain exercise.” Dr Hiba Kurjieh, clinical dietitian, Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Hospital
due to certain hormones that rise in the human body at around 5 or 6am. “If somebody wakes up at 5 in the morning with a chest pain, you can almost guarantee it’s a heart attack unless proven otherwise,” he said.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com Photo by Juidin Bernarrd