Young People May Also Get Heart Attack, Says Expert

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 (Bernama) -- A heart specialist, Dr Annuar Rapa'ee, Tuesday has advised the young people to lead a healthy life-style as a preventive measure against getting the cardiovascular disease, also known as heart attack. He said the young people may also get the disease if they did not practice a healthy life-style. "Although the disease aften attack those above 40 years old, the young people in the country are now among those with risks of being attacked by the disease. "Hypertensive patients and those with diabetes are among those prone to heart attacks, besides cigarette smokers," he said in his talk on cardiovascular disease at Wisma Bernama here Tuesday. Dr Annuar, who had served as a heart specialist for more than 10 years at the Serdang Hospital, Selangor, and Tropicana Medical Centre, Damansara, said he had come across a 26-year-old patient who suffered from a critical heart disease and it was found that he smoked more than 20 sticks of cigarettes daily. "There are 4,000 toxic chemicals in a cigarette stick and they not only cause the heart disease, but also cancer. "Cigarette smoking does not only affect the smoker, but also others around him/her,' he added. He advised cigarette smokers to quit smoking and to lead a healthy life-style. He said they should also go for health-screening, like electrocardiogram (ECG) and heart scan, to ensure their smoking habit had not affected their hearts. -- BERNAMA