When 46-year-old Khalid Abdul Malik felt a different kind of pain in his chest, he knew it was not a good sign. He rushed from Fujairah to the hospital in Ras Al Khaimah where doctors performed an immediate ECG that showed him undergoing a heart attack. "I immediately knew that something was wrong because it wasn't the normal kind of pain I felt," said Khalid speaking to Khaleej Times just before being discharged on Wednesday.

"I felt my chest was heavy and tightening rapidly and also felt pain in my left arm," he said. The ECG results showed that Khalid had a 95 per cent blockage in one artery and 80 per cent in another. An immediate angiography was performed on Khalid following which he recovered and was discharged a couple of days after the surgery. Khalid said he was a heavy smoker and had a family history of the disease too. "I have now decided never ever to smoke and will also follow a healthy lifestyle," he said.

Dr Ajay Kanojia, senior interventional cardiologist at RAK Hospital, said Khalid's surgery was successful. "We opened the arteries and he has been advised exercise and a change in diet to stay healthy," he said. "Historically, the UAE has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the Arab world as evidenced by the statistics." He said that 70-80 per cent of the expatriate population is at high risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Dr Ajay said that usually men are affected more but the risk in women has also increased significantly due to changing lifestyles. "It's not uncommon to see even young women with an increased incidence of high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and coronary artery disease," he added.

He also said that early cardiovascular events in 30s are not uncommon, especially among South East Asians, Filipinos, Egyptians.

Tobacco kills

According to the World Heart Federation, six million people who die because of cardiovascular diseases, are direct or second-hand smokers. By 2030, this number is expected to rise to eight million. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the world, it kills half of all lifetime users, and half of those die in middle age (35-69).

The federation also found that heart disease and strokes are the world's leading cause of death, killing 17.1 million people every year - that's more than victims of cancer, HIV and AIDS and malaria.

Source: Khaleej Times