Sedentary lifestyle is leading cause of heart diseases in India: Doctors

New Delhi [India], Sept. 29 (ANI): Heart diseases have been on a rise in India in the recent years. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality in our country. Earlier perceived as the first world disease, cardiovascular disorders are the cause of 25 percent deaths in India. Heart disease does not affect the urban and economically strong only; it also affects the rural and underprivileged population. A large percentage of heart diseases can be attributed to various risk factors, including, but not limited to sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits and genetic predisposition. Numerous studies have been done to prove and disprove the health risks leading to heart diseases. On the eve of 'World Heart Day,' Curofy- India's largest community of verified doctors conducted a poll asking physicians the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases in India according to them. Out of 2230 doctors who polled 1530 or 68.6 percent doctors said the sedentary but fast paced lifestyle is responsible for it. Commenting on it, Dr Naresh Trehan, the chairman and managing director at Medanta, and leading cardiothoracic and cardiovascular surgeon said, "Smoking is one of the leading causes for Premature Heart Disease. Sedentary lifestyles, sugar laden sweets and their heavy consumption also cannot be ruled out; I would seriously advice running to be added as an important part of one's schedule. " 22.4 percent or 520 doctors said unhealthy food habits are the culprit, leading our population to an epidemic of sorts of heart failure. Kartikeya Bhargava, the senior consultant of cardiology at Medanta, "There are 3 S, sedentary lifestyle, stress and smoking are increasingly responsible for marked increase in CVD, especially in younger gen. Coupled with this Indian Diet which is rich in fried food adds to the development of coronary plaque that are responsible for heart attacks that result in poor heart pump function, both of which result in increased risk of sudden cardiac death." Only 13 percent or 320 physicians said genetic predisposition determines if a person will have a heart disease or not. So the age old practice of relying on family history to determine your predilection towards heart disease may be falling out of favor. Commenting on this, Pawan Gupta, the co-founder at Curofy said, "It's sad that India has growing cases cardiovascular diseases, which are responsible one fourth of the deaths in our country. Heart diseases are preventable; we just tried to understand the causes that can be avoided to avert them. And this is possible only when the masses are made aware of these health risks." (ANI)