Date:21/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/21/stories/2008082156550200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

“Sedentary lifestyle has taken a toll”

Staff Reporter

Cardiac awareness programme for employees of Commercial Tax Office

Photo: M. Moorthy

TIPS: S.N.M.Ubayadullah, Minister of Commercial Taxes, having a word with S. Manivannan, left, Executive Director of Seahorse Hospitals, in Tiruchi. —

TIRUCHI: Low-fat diet, moderate exercises and healthy lifestyle increase the longevity of the heart and prevent early fat deposits on the walls of arteries, speakers observed at a cardiac awareness programme held for the employees of Commercial Tax Office here on Wednesday.

Conducted by Seahorse Hospitals, the programme sought to sensitise the participants to the need to get their hearts tested frequently.

Speaking at the function, Minister for Commercial Taxes S. N. M. Ubayadullah observed that despite the increase in the awareness level of people on nutritious diet and ill-effects of smoking, sedentary lifestyle has taken a toll on the cardiac health.

India, he said, had become the capital of cardiac ailments and the incidences increased at alarming rates in urban areas.

State government had been announcing various health schemes to cover the medical expenses for its employees. Hospitals must come forward to offer right kind of suggestions to the public through awareness programmes.

Quoting a verse from a Tamil classical work, Mr. Ubayadullah said ways of ideal living and staple food habits have been put forth centuries ago by our ancestors.

Technological advances, while making life easy, encouraged sedentary way of living, paving way for lifestyle diseases.

Detailing on the symptoms of and preventive measures for heart attack, cardiac specialist of Seahorse Hospitals S. Aravind Kumar said that fat-rich foods, diabetes and smoking trigger the cholesterol to get deposited on the walls of arteries.

Fatty materials collected on the arteries disrupt the free flow of blood and, eventually, the plaque hardens and damages the arteries, blocking the blood from reaching the vital parts of heart.

Executive Director S. Manivannan delivered the special address and Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Tiruchi, E. Rathinasamy, spoke.